Reading Blades of Remnant: Complete Compendium
by JustLuck
Summary: Native from Remnant far be transported to a pocket dimension which gives them a view of their own world. They are told that their world will merge with another and that they will be viewing an alternate reality.
1. Dimensional Contact

**(Play XCX: Theme X)**

 **Back with another story and on the release date of Super Smash Bros Ultimate in the U.S. I really got to stop uploading late at night. This story got second place on the poll alongside Persona. Go check out Phoenix Champion and TheMaster4444 since they had the other stories I considered.**

 **I did debate on trying to get this out on December 4th which is the day Xenoblade Chronicles X came out. My last chapter was posted on December 1st which is the day Xenoblade Chronicles 2 came out.**

 **Novice4129 didn't seek me. I volunteered and Novice4129 accepted. I was also given permission to make... a small addition to the reading that hasn't been a thing in the original story until one of the more recent chapters. Send any one of the writers #JOYCONBOYZ or #JOYCONMEN.**

 **Novice4129, this may have become a meme for your story in the early state started by me either as a guest or user and is probably supported by at least one other person. Weiss, Dahlia, and Ursula. Snow theme, Dahlia is a mother-like figure and Ursula would be a better younger sibling who participates on stage with Weiss. You know what? Anyone in my audience or a part of Novice's audience, are you willing to make that type of art?**

 **… Damn, the clock hit midnight. It is officially December 8th for me.**

 **(OST end)**

* * *

A new semester is going to begin at Beacon Academy soon. New and old faces were said to arrive at Beacon for the upcoming Vytal Festival. New experiences laid in the way for everyone. For some people, those 'new experiences' would be very different compared to what is normal and would occur earlier for them compared to the rest of Remnant.

Teams RWBY and JNPR were in their dorms resting from their joint-team training session which lasted for three hours since 1 pm on their day off.

Ruby was the first one out of the two teams to wake up from her nap. First thing she realized was that she was in seated position on a chair that you would normally see in places that deal with transportation. The second thing, she nor her team and friends were in Beacon anymore.

"Guys, wake up." She called out to everyone when she went to shake her sister awake.

Everyone started to wake up. Jaune was first to respond instead of Yang when everyone was waking up. "What is it, Ru—" Jaune blinked a few times when he saw the immediate background behind her "where are we?"

"I don't know."

"I know I was dead on my bed from the training and I know that I don't travel when I sleep." Yang said.

"WERE WE KIDNAPED?" Nora shouts. She started to roughly shake Ren. "Ren, we've been taken. Our kidnapers want us for ransom. So much money for people of our talents. No wait, they want all the pancakes in Remnant. Those monsters."

"I don't think that is the case." Ren said through all the shaking.

"I do believe he is right, miss Valkyrie." A familiar voice spoke while coming down a staircase from a half circle platform above them which was being supported by the pillars on the level they were on. From the current position of the students in where ever they are they assume the source of the voice was coming down stairs, but was actually going down a powerless elevator.

"Professor Ozpin." Everyone said.

"What happened? Where are we?" Weiss asked everyone's common question. She quickly surveyed the area without getting up. Aside from the multiple empty seats which positioned to face towards and away from three black display screens (it's the same on the opposite end from the room not that she can accurately see the layout), she noticed a huge circular elevator in the middle of the room and a reinforced clear glass structure. It was dark outside. How did it become dark so fast? There were also two doors, one on each side of the room that line up with the elevator.

"Doctor Oobleck, Ms. Polendina, and I were the first individuals to gain consciousness. We've only been active for a few minutes, not long after you and the rest of your friends. It seems we are locked in this specific room inside some sort of station or observatory area." Ozpin answered her.

"Professor Oobleck and Penny are here?" Ruby asked the headmaster.

"They are here. They are just in the blind spot of the elevator. I asked them to investigate the lower level while I investigated the upper level. They said the doors and elevator are inactive. The doors upstairs are the same. There is a security gate upstairs with red sensors. I tried to see if my cane can pass through the gaps, but I found out that those sensors created an artificial invisible wall. Behind the gate are four tall holographic panes. Each displaying a picture of the top of a grassy hill with a tree near the center." The headmaster explained.

"Wait, who is Penny Polendina?" Jaune asked the least important question?

"She is someone we ran into when we were exploring Vale. She is kind of weird. I think she is from Atlas." Blake answered Jaune. She turned her attention to the headmaster. "Did you find a name of our current location at the security gate?"

"Only for this specific area. A sign referred to the area as A1, Rhadamanthus Portal. The majority of the text was faded."

"So this place is old, but not abandoned if the sensors are on." Pyrrha said. "Let's meet up with Professor Oobleck and Penny."

"I'm curious to hear their findings. Also, he prefers the title of 'doctor' over professor." Ozpin led the students to the separated pair. The heads of the pair were slightly tilted downward. Were they thinking or looking at something? They were not moving. "Doctor, Ms. Polendina, did you find anything regarding our predicament?"

"Everyone, I suggest you look down." Oobleck told them.

"Don't worry about the glass floor here. It's reinforced and will even support our combined weight if we stood in one concentrated area." Penny knew from quick structural analysis of the material and would support someone like herself. She was also recording her experience of an impossible sight and feat.

(Play XC2 OST: Where we used to be)

When everyone looked down they were awestruck at an impossible sight. It wasn't night time. They were in some kind of detached station in space. Below them was their world, Remnant. Most of the continents were just large enough to where they can barely see without special equipment.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Was the reaction of everyone that was not either Oobleck or Penny.

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Weiss followed up. "No one on Remnant has been able to achieve success in any space project, let alone space travel."

"To the best of my knowledge and Remnants recorded history, you are right. Yet, here we are seeing it as reality." Never in his life had Oobleck ever thought he get to live the experience of being in space. He took out his scroll to start documenting this experience until he got a notification. "It seems we are outside the range of the CCT Towers. We are limited to local communication."

Ozpin pulled out his scroll to check and the students did the same. "It's seems you are right Doctor."

"What kind of people or beings are able to do this and what do they want with us?" Pyrrha asked.

Everyone was unaware of a figure that had approached them silently. "I believe I can answers some questions for a certain amount of time." A distorted voice said.

Everyone became alerted to the new presence. Most of them didn't have their weapons, but Ren and Yang are able to fight without their weapons. When they turned around they saw an old man levatating with long flowing blonde hair and a blue eye. He wore tattered clothes which may be from kind of lab suit or scientist attire, not that they can tell since the figure wore nothing on top he did have pants. He had metallic objects located on his head, chest, and abdomen which reached behind him. The most notable feature about him was the dimensional rift that covered half of his body.

"Oh dear." Ozpin thought he saw a lot of things in his lifetime, but this proved him wrong.

"I am Klaus."

"How and why did you bring us here? Ozpin asked.

"What you are currently in is a pocket dimension I created in your world. Time here will operate differently than normal. This area is a near-identical version of the place I normally reside in." That was the 'how'. "I brought you here to inform you that your world and my own will soon be connected. I also wish to show you an alternate reality where our respective worlds are already connected." That was the 'why'.

"Excuse me sir, how exactly are you able to 'connect worlds'?" Oobleck inquired.

"As a human back in my old world, I was the lead scientist of my team. I had given up hope for humanity due to the natural state of man. When I was performing an experiment to bring mankind closer to divinity, an unknown object which my team named the Conduit appeared before us. Harnessing the power of the Conduit allowed my experiment to be a success. I had successfully created a new universe, but at the same time I destroyed all life in my world. Additionally, the use of the Conduit opened up pathways to other worlds, such as yours, which are completely unaware of each other. Shortly after the success of the experiment, the Conduit switched to an inactive state and half of my body remained trapped in the new world I created."

Everyone stood dumbfounded. Such an explanation was unbelievable. It was something you would see and hear in science fiction books and movies. Yet, Klaus's existence before them and their current location provided the proof needed to back up his story.

"Left alone in the world I destroy, I sought to recreate all life which I destroyed. Wildlife, land masses, and humanity evolved in many different ways over the years. However, I didn't trust my created humanity. I fears people would end up exactly the same as the humans in my world, so I implemented a countermeasure. Even with the counter measure, humanity was still doomed which led me no not intervene with human affairs. Five hundred years later, a certain boy and his Blade formed a unique bond. That bond nurtured and attracted allies for their cause. Near the end of their journey they reach me and rekindled my hope for mankind. Due to the bond of the boy and his Blade, the Conduit reactivated. With the gateway to parallel worlds open, I decided to search for a suitable world for my world to merge with. However, each world is not without it's hardships. The merge will occur after my visitor overcome their final battle. I will soon disappear not to long after." Klaus explained.

"Are you withholding information? There seems to be more to your story than your telling us." Weiss said.

"I don't have a lot of time to go into further detail myself…" Klaus pulled out a uniquely shaped crystal "but I will not leave you without a guide."

(OST end)

"What do you plan to do with that dust crystal?" Pyrrha asked.

"This is no dust crystal. It is a core crystal. I will awaken a Blade from it." Before anyone could say anything, Klaus started to resonate with the core crystal. The light from the resonance temporarily blinded the guest from Remnant

A male figure appeared. He had short black hair, brown eyes with glasses over them, and a full beard stubble. He wore a purple chroma chest plate armor and chroma gauntlets that had the colors to make purple, the left gauntlet was red while the right was blue. His black cape dropped just above his knees. He wore black pants held together by two crossing belts and black boots. In both of his hands were a red and blue blade respectively. He put both together to form a dual blade. After doing a small display with his weapon he introduced himself. In the center of his chest was a blue crystal.

"The name is Luck. Please to make your acquaintance."

Ruby, Nora, Yang, and Jaune were amazed at such a sight. Weiss, Pyrrha, and Blake couldn't believe that new lifeform came from a crystal. Oobleck and Penny had questions that need to be answered to satiate their curiosity. Ren and Ozpin kept their poker face on, but they were still curious of the phenomenon they just witnessed.

"This here, is a Blade. Blades are one of my creations. He will be your guide. I have implanted him with my knowledge so any questions you may have for me, he will be able to answer." Klaus handed Luck some kind of device. "The device I have given Luck will be the key to return you back to Remnant. It can only be activated by a Blade of the light attribute or an Aegis." Klaus opened the portal with the still active Conduit. "I bid you all a farewell and hope you learn something from your alternate reality." Klaus proceeded to leave.

"Wait!" Ruby called out to Klaus who stopped. "You said a certain group of people caused you to make the merge between worlds. Will we see them here or back on Remnant?

"If I don't vanish too quickly I will ask if any of them would like to come here. It's entirely up to them individually." Klaus said. He then left.

Luck started to speak. "You will be viewing the story in eBook format and the story will be displayed visually on the screens in the back as you read. The story should be uploaded to your scrolls by now." Everyone received a notification on their scrolls.

"At least we don't have to deal with passing a book around." Yang said.

While Blake didn't mind eBooks, she preferred an actual book.

"I have unlocked the barracks, bathrooms, cafeteria, and storage areas should you need use for those facilities."

"Barracks?" Pyrrha thought about the word and the information on time here. "How does time work here compared to Remnant and the other world merging with ours?" She asked the Blade.

"Three hours here equals one minute in your world. One minute in your world equals five minute in Alrest." The Blade answered.

"The name of your world is Alrest? How will time be affect for both worlds?" Oobleck inquired.

"Yes, my world is called Alrest and time in my world will assimilate to yours. Now let's get the reading started on the reading."

* * *

 **Yeah, I don't give a damn about spoilers. I mean, the Smash community was constantly trying to data mine and get info from insider sources. But, there are somethings that we just don't see coming like Joker from Persona 5 (I beat the game). Back on topic, I don't care whether you played the game or not, beat it or not, or you just went onto the wiki.**

 **Klaus created a new universe with the Conduit. I hypothesized that he need the ability to control space and time which the Conduit is capable of with the birth of a new universe. Lets not forget possibly opening up gateways to other worlds. Klaus, then curse for the sin he commited, was left in the desolate remains of his world and tried to recreate life. I think that might be enough to make this believable.**

 **Had to do a bit off research on Klaus in the game and wiki when I came up with this. Don't worry, I played all Xeno games on Nintendo platforms. I do wish that Nintendo will bring over Xenogears and the Xeno Saga Trilogy to Switch either as an exact port or remaster.**

 **Myself as a Blade? That was because of all the crazy and unique custom souls in Soul Calibur 6. My weapon, when separated, represents the joycons. I think one of my Blade skills is 'Architect's Knowledge'. I am the least important character in the story.**

 **...It's already 12:25 from all this editing.**


	2. Prologue 1-1

**I feel as though Smash Ultimate is going to be a huge distraction to me.**

 **New chapter here. You may notice a couple of things different from the original content. I had to get the author's permission to do this.**

 **1\. Some grammar errors are fixed such as punctuation or any misspelled words (mostly the first one). I can't add, subtract, or alter words or sentences from the original content. I still enjoy the story. I guess you can see this as a slightly polished up version of the story. In a way I could be considered a beta, but only for content that had already been posted. I'm not official. This will also occur for future chapters.**

 **2\. Music that is not in the original story will not be in bold. It's just a neat aesthetic. It may mostly apply to battle scenes, but there may be some moments outside of battle that I will tried to find music to match because I feel those scenes stand out within the respective chapter. Music won't be applied to everything. I'll try to limit the music selection to XC2 + Torna and RWBY unless I find something from XC1 or XCX which could better fit the scene. I doubt XCX would have music I could use despite it being my favorite Xeno game because it kind of reminded me of PSO (Phantasy Star Online).**

* * *

Everyone is already seated.

"I will not be reading. Any questions you may have may be answered in the story. If not, then I will answer them to the best of my ability." Luck said.

Everyone looked at the first chapter.

 **Red Rose meets the Rose Reaper**

"Why would you meet a 'Rose Reaper' when you already are one?" Nora asked.

"Umm..." Was Ruby's intelligent response.

"This 'Rose Reaper' must be one of these…Blades." Ren said. The concept of Blades was new to the natives of Remnant. They won't be used to it until later.

"You got to admit that the title can give the impression of Ruby being a narcissist. Wait, do you talk to yourself in the mirror?" Nora asked Ruby.

Ruby's Yang senses were tingling so see gave an answer quickly. "Yes, but only for self-motivation. Can we read the first chapter?"

"I should let you know that the title you read is not the main story, but rather one of the prologues." Luck informed them.

"Okay. How many prologues are there?" Blake asked.

"There are four, each having three parts." Luck looked to Ruby. "I suggest you read your entire prologue."

Ruby followed the suggestion. She was kind of interested in reading about herself.

 **It was an ordinary day at Beacon academy. Well, as ordinary as it is, considering all the super powered teen-agers who're training to become the defenders of the world. However, the day went from ordinary to terrible, when Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY, and the resident weapon. Not 'picked apart', piece, but broken and shattered beyond repair. It was even right before combat class.**

Ruby dropped her scroll and started to hyperventilate. Tears started to come out.

"Ruby, calm down." Yang brought her sister into a hug gently stroking the back of her head.

"Friend Ruby, what's wrong?" Penny was concerned. "How can she have a reaction like this?"

"My... baby… is…destroyed" Ruby tried to speak trough her rapid breathing.

"Her Crescent Rose is more than just a weapon. She hand crafted it. It was like a child to her. And losing said child hits almost as hard if not just as hard as when we lost our mom." Yang explained to everyone. She turned to Luck. "Where are the barracks?"

"Upstairs on the right."

"This is gonna take some time. Come on, Ruby" Yang escorted her sister upstairs.

"We will wait until she settles down."

The readers can only wait for Ruby calms down.

Thirty minutes have passed. Everyone was left to their own activities whether it be exploring this station, getting a view of Remnant and space, or playing a mobile game. They were concern for Ruby, but the circumstances were a bit odd for them.

"We're back." Yang said out loud. Everyone gathered at the seating area.

"Ms. Rose are you alright." Oobleck asked.

"Yes." Ruby could barely be heard.

"She said yes." Yang clarified.

"Has she ever been bullied in any way in in Beacon or her previous school?"

"To the best of my knowledge, no."

Jaune kept quiet about his situation with Cardin which was already dealt with. He couldn't share with the headmaster here. What if he gets exposed for the fact that he forged his way into Beacon?

"Well, if something similar happen then let us know. We may be a combat institution training you children to become the next defenders of Remnant, but we are still a school just like any other. We do trust that you can handle your own problems, but please remember that Beacon staff is still an option." Ozpin told the students.

"Um, Ruby." Jaune caught her attention. He was holding Crescent Rose. "I found your weapon alongside ours in the storage area. I figured being able to hold it might make you feel better.

Ruby took her weapon and hanged it closely. "Thanks, Jaune." Ruby picked her scroll off the ground. She felt a bit better and resumed from where she left off.

 **That's why right now, Ruby was being comforted by her big sister Yang. The brawler of team Rwby as well as the best girl in Beacon, in her opinion anyway. However, she had two things on her mind, making sure Ruby would get through this, as well as beating down the person responsible for making her baby sister cry.**

Not too surprising that similar events just happened.

'Making a girl cry isn't going to fly.' Jaune thought.

Yang didn't even react to her other self's claim.

"Ms. Xiao Long, regardless of which reality, there are proper ways to handle a problem than to just needlessly assault someone." Oobleck said.

"I know professor."

"Doctor." He corrected her.

" **H-how could they do this?" Ruby sobbed into her sister's shoulder, barely audible.**

" **Because they're…Jerks." Yang said with barely suppressed fury, and last minute self-censoring. "How could Goodwitch let them get away with this? The Blonde girl added in while stroking Ruby's head in an attempt to comfort her.**

The Beacon students had an inkling of the possible perpetrators. They just didn't know that they could do something personal against Ruby. Yet, they could see it happen.

" **Because there is no evidence." Said Blake Belladonna, who was reading a book by one of their work desk. Or at least she had tried, but Ruby crying, as well as the culprit's horrible actions were distracting her too much to actually focus. "Otherwise, I'm sure Professor Goodwitch would've expelled them." The black haired girl, who was also secretly a faunus, added with a scowl.**

Even though this was a serious moment, Blake looked at Team JNPR and Penny. Her team and most likely Beacon staff knew of her status as a faunus.

"I already knew the day we met." Penny revealed.

"How?!"

"You're bow unnaturally moved despite the lack of wind that day."

Blake looked at team JNPR.

"This is the first time we've heard." Jaune quickly lied for his team. He wasn't going to let her know that Weiss told them.

 **Indeed. When Team CRDL were making fun of RWBY for crying over her destroyed weapon earlier today. It looked like the strictest of all professors wanted nothing more than to expel them from Beacon right then and there, among all things.**

"Has Mr. Winchester done anything similar during your time at Beacon?" Ozpin asked his students.

"Yes, and in front of most students too." The students confirmed.

"He thinks he's a big shot since he managed to be a huntsman in training. He picks on people he deems as easy targets, especially the faunus in the academy. His team supports him." Yang snitched.

"I see. I will have a word with his team regarding their position."

" **Why are those… rapscallions even allowed here in the first place?" Weiss Schnee added from the desk she used to study to get her mind off the whole thing. Though with little success. "Ozpin made a mistake letting them in." The white themed girl complained. And this is coming from the girl who once thought that Ruby being their leader was a mistake. But this and that don't compare to one another.**

"Did you really think that?" Pyrrha asked Weiss.

"I did." Weiss admitted.

"It had only been on day Ms. Schnee. You should expect someone to be an effective leader from day one. It takes time." Ozpin told her.

" **Next time I see them, I'm gonna pummel their faces in." Yang said with her normally lilac eyes turning red.**

" **And get yourself on detention at the very least." Blake pointed out with a sigh.**

" **That's BULLSHIT!" Yang roared, her glorious hair that she was so proud of producing flames in the process.**

"SWEAR!" Ruby pointed at Yang.

"But you were the one who read it out loud."

That silenced Ruby. She continued to read.

" **Yang, please!" Thankfully the pleading voice of her little sister quelled the coming temper tantrum. The blonde's eyes even turned lilac again after one look at Ruby's silver eyes. "I- I don't want you to get in trouble." The red Reaper said before hugging her sister harder. "Please, don't do anything."**

" **But Ruby they-" "Please." Ruby interrupted whatever protest Yang tried to let out.**

"… **No promises." Yang said as she hugged Ruby. "But I'm making sure they pay one way or another."**

" **And I will help." Weiss said, getting up from her desk. "When we find enough evidence, Team CRDL is finished."**

 **Blake too put her book down as she turned to Yang and Ruby in her seat. "It's not gonna be easy finding evidence, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try." The ninja kitty said with a serious look.**

"… **Thanks guys." Ruby said, feeling better.**

 **With that Team RWBY chose to go to bed now.**

"Thanks for supporting my other self guys." Ruby thanked her team.

"We would do the same for you. I sure even team JNPR would do the same." Team JNPR agreed with Weiss.

 **(Few hours later)**

 **Ruby had decided to take a walk around Beacon. The little reaper knew that she shouldn't be out anymore, but she just couldn't sleep. The support of her teammates did help her get through the worst of her depression, but the memory of Crescent Rose's shattered form twisted her heart. That weapon was inspired by her uncle Qrow, a scythe master in his own right. She had spent a lot of time designing her weapon as well as forging it, with occasional advice from Qrow whenever she had a question. And when she finally completed it, Ruby's super cool uncle ruffled her hair as he said, "Good job, kiddo." That had been one of the happiest days in her life. But now, the weapon she had built with her heart, pouring her hopes and dreams into every screw, every hammer strike, even polishing, was now reduced to scrape metal.**

Ruby hugged her scythe harder.

It boggles the mind for everyone except Yang that Ruby can have such an attachment to a weapon like it's a person, but they would have to grow and accept it.

 **The last thought made Ruby hiccup. No! She had to be strong now. Not just for herself, but for her team too. "I will just remake my baby." Ruby said in determination. After all, some of the pieces could still be used if she remade Crescent Rose.**

" **No, you won't, brat." A cocky voice said, before tackling Ruby. Before the girl could even think about getting up, a weight got on top of her, pinning her down on her stomach. "Not so tough without your precious 'baby'." The cocky voice said mockingly.**

 **Ruby was able to turn her head enough to see a pair of armor clad legs standing not too far from her. Then she looked up to come face to face with Cardin Winchester, leader of team CRDL. "Cardin, what're you doing." Ruby asked in confusion and slight fear.**

"THAT BASTARD!" Yang roared. Her eyes turned red and her hair was set ablaze. This was enough proof for her. "You destroy my sister's weapon, made her cry and pinning her down. I take the last one as physical assault."

"Miss Xiao Long, stand down. We don't need you breaking anything assuming there are destructible objects in this station." Oobleck advised.

"NO!"

"Yang, please stop." Ruby pleaded.

"But-" "Yang." Ruby wanted her to stop.

"…Fine." Yang went back into her normal state.

"I can't punish Mr. Winchester for his other self's deeds, but I can punish him for what he has done in our reality." Ozpin told Yang.

"You better and not anything light either."

 **The bully of Beacon gave an arrogant smirk. "Isn't it obvious? Getting rid of something that shouldn't exist. With this." With the last part Carding showed Ruby a pair of pliers with what looked like a glowing blue gem stone in the shape of a cubic diamond.**

Before Yang could react, she was overcome with a calming sensation. "What is this?"

Nora looked at Ren who shrugged. Ren was ready to do something, but someone beat him to it. The people with unknown semblances or abilities are Penny, the headmaster, the doctor, and Luck who was the greatest unknown factor.

Ren managed to catch a glimpse of Luck's retreating hand with a fading light. "What did you do?" Ren asked Luck?

"I just used an ability of mine."

"Would you mind going into detail?" Oobleck and Penny wanted to know of the Blade's abilities.

"Not at this time. Keep reading" Luck didn't seem to be willing to talk so they can only continue.

"We may get to know how core crystals first appear in Remnant or at least the first impressions of our other selves." Oobleck said.

 **Ruby's eyes widened in fear at the sight of it. "Isn't that Death Dust?" Death Dust, the new type of Dust that was discovered by Doctor Oobleck and several other Huntsmen. According to staff, the sole crystal had to be grabbed with pliers, because if a person touches, their aura is drained, before several wounds opened in their bodies. One of the Huntsmen who touched the crystal died to their wounds, three went into critical condition, Doctor Oobleck himself only got several papercuts. Hence the name Death Dust. The things was supposed to be in a container locked within Oobleck's office, until a researcher from Atlas would come to pick it up. "Why do you have it?" Ruby asked the bully.**

Oobleck took a pause from his notes since he wasn't reading. "Why do the core crystals have that effect? I can understand that it didn't affect Klaus since he created the crystals."

"It just means that you weren't able to awaken a Blade. To be able to awaken a Blade you must have the innate potential or aptitude. If you do, then you awaken a Blade. If not, then what you just read happens. You won't actually know if you have the potential unless you try. Bloodline, heritage, or any other background don't mean much." Luck explained. "If you had to ask about the me about the death and injury toll… well, I'll leave that to your imagination.

That actually scared everyone to varying degrees.

" **You really are a stupid brat." Cardin said with a smirk. "I broke into Oobleck's office and snatched it from there." Then the bully had an amused look. "I thought I would use it to kill one of your teammates, but imagine my luck seeing you wandering around."**

Yang may still be feeling the effects of whatever Luck did, but she knew what she wanted to say. "You fucked up Cardin for targeting my team, especially my sister."

"Swear." Ruby called out.

Oobleck, Ozpin, Weiss, and Pyrrha didn't like Yang's choice of words. The students did admit to themselves that they agreed with Yang.

 **At that, Ruby's eyes widen in horror. "Y-you can't." Ruby whimpered, truly scared.**

" **It's what you deserve." Cardin said with a hateful look. "Maybe after this I'll use it to put down all the animals." At that, Ruby tried to struggle against whoever was holding her down.**

"… **Cardin," said the person holding her down, "Are you sure about this. I mean… we're about to kill someone."**

 **Cardin gave a condescending look to his partner in crime. "What's the matter Russel, chicken?" The person, now revealed to be Russel Thrush, Cardin's teammate, shut up from that remark. Satisfied at his teammate's silence, Cardin grabbed Ruby's right hand before moving the Death Dust to Ruby's grip.**

Everyone started to fear for the red reaper. They have no proof that Ruby, or rather the alternate Ruby, would survive from the core crystal.

"Please to whatever divine being that isn't Klaus protect my sister." Yang muttered a quick prayer.

"I know this is an alternate reality in story format, but please give Ruby plot armor." Blake muttered her prayer.

Penny didn't want her other self to lose her first friend.

"Please, let the other me live."

" **Cardin! Why are you doing this!? I never did anything to you." Ruby cried out, desperate to get out of this. "SOMEONE HELP!"**

" **No one can hear you now, or even if they could they wouldn't care." Cardin said in annoyance as the innocent looking crystal was now inches away from Ruby's hand.**

 **Then in a last-ditch effort, Ruby clenched her hand into a fist so that the Death Dust Crystal wouldn't be placed on her hand. It would have been a good plan, it the dreaded crystal hadn't reached her by then. And now Ruby could feel her aura being drained by this evil thing.**

" **Russel, move, before she explodes." Cardin quickly said, before moving further away. Russel obeying his leader's command ran as fast as he could. Cardin doesn't realize it, but Russel was still uncertain about all of this. Sure he wanted to get rid of Team RWBY, especially Ruby who was allowed here two years ahead of time, while the rest of them had to work for it. But that didn't mean he wanted her dead. Unfortunately for the mohawked bully, it was too late to regret now.**

"Having a conscience won't save you from your crime or what we could do to you." Weiss said.

 **As Cardin and Russel took their distance, Ruby found that she couldn't let go of the crystal that was charging itself to kill her. Or at least, that's what Yang theorized about why it drained aura before inflicting wounds. "Not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!" Ruby screamed with tears blurring her vision. Why couldn't she just stay in her dorm? How could Cardin be so evil? When did everything start to go wrong? These are some of the many questions that plagued Ruby's mind as her vision started to fade from rapid aura exhaustion. "** _ **At least I get to see mom."**_ **Was the last thought Ruby had before everything went bright blue, before fading to black.**

Ruby hoped that she had the potential to awaken a Blade even if only for her other self to survive. She wasn't sure if awakening a Blade could be a good thing.

 **Not far away, Cardin stopped at the flash of a blue light that came from where they left Ruby. "Is the brat dead?" Cardin wondered as he turned to go back to see the mess the little nuisance had left behind. Besides, he had to go get the Death Dust. Russel never stopped running, but not because he thought someone would see him at the scene of the crime.**

 **Cardin didn't get far as he spotted a red cloaked figure standing at the spot he left Ruby. "How the hell are you still alive!" Cardin shouted in anger, the little shit is supposed to be dead. However, the anger soon turned to shock as he noticed that the person in red cloak is** _ **not**_ **Ruby. How did Cardin realize that in the dark? Because when the figure turned to him, the bully saw Ruby motionless on the floor.**

"… **Who are you?" The figure in the red cloak asked, revealing them to be a man. However, the cloak also had a hood which completely obscures the person's face.**

"Did she just…"

"Did I just…"

"Yes, your other self awakened a Blade." Luck confirmed. "That doesn't necessarily mean you can awaken one yourself.

"Wait, are there any more core crystals in this area?" Penny asked.

"No, there are no core crystals here. To the best of my knowledge, my summoner only had my core crystal." Luck left the readers with a bit of disappointment.

 **Cardin couldn't explain why, but something about this person scared him. Actually, now that he got a look. Aside from the cloak, the person was wearing what looked to be a black leather jacket with silver embroidery. Random parts of the embroidery had red roses either painted or sewn, some blooming some budding. The man also wore black pants, which also had silver embroidery, but not roses. The man also wore a pair of combat boots. However, what struck as freaky for Cardin, was that occasionally blue energy was coursing through the embroidery like some kind of sequence.**

"What a cool design." Ruby gushed over the design of her Blade despite the fact that she can't see his face.

"You know, his appearance makes me think of what Ruby might where if she were a guy."

"Maybe that's just a coincidence." Jaune said.

"I wonder what his weapon is?" Ruby was curious.

"I'm surprised that wasn't the first thing you would say." Weiss said.

"… **I asked, who are you?" the person asked again.**

 **Now that Cardin had gotten a good look at the man, he was in turmoil.** _ **"Is this guy a Huntsman? How much did he see? Is he going to arrest me?"**_ **Were the thoughts that struck fear into Cardin. So in a desperate attempt to not get caught, he charged at the strange an un-armed man.**

"Looks like Cardin got caught in the act." Jaune said, clear happy that the eventual consequence would hit Cardin hard.

"While we haven't seen any Blade in combat, I am sure that Cardin would lose." Nora said.

 **(Few minutes later)**

(Play XC2: Elysium in the Dream)

 **The door to the Beacon infirmary opened, revealing a red cloaked man who not too long ago was charged at by Cardin. Not that this person knew the assailant's name. The only thing he knew was that he was attacked, so he fought back. One dodge and slamming the assailant's head into the wall was all it took for him. Though that's not what mattered to him right now. What mattered now was the unconscious Ruby in his arms. Of course, this person doesn't know the 15 year old first year student's name, not yet. All he knows is that he belongs to her, until death do them part.**

While the last part was directed to Ruby, Blake and Pyrrha blushed with her. Sounded like something from a romance novel.

"Okay buddy. I am grateful that Ruby had the potential of awakening you, you giving Cardin an embarrassing defeat, and took my sister to the infirmary, but I don't like the way you phrased your existing yet nonexistent relationship with her."

"Yang." Ruby whined.

"I just stating facts."

"Are relationship does exist between them." Luck said

"What?! Explain." Yang demanded

All Luck did was point at her scroll implying that she should read more to find the answer.

"Damn it. You're lucky that you are our way out of her."

"It's in my name." Luck said with a smirk.

"… **This will do." The person said as he put Ruby into an infirmary bed before tucking her in. "We can have a proper introduction in the morning." The man said as he then picked up what looked like a metallic rod from the holster on his back. The rod looked to be made from black metal as a core and some silvery metal on parts of it. Curiously, the end of it had a small actual rosebud. The stick itself was around the length of a police baton. Then suddenly, the baton extended into the length of a polearm. Then, from what looked like an open slot at the tip, a red scythe blade came out, much longer than should've fit inside. From the other side, a much smaller identical blade came out. The man inspected the blade of the baton that had turned into a scythe. "The blade seems fine." He muttered as he gave the weapon some test swings and somehow only hitting air in the relatively small room instead of the furniture or anything else that could be broken. Then after one more swing, the rosebud at the bottom end of the scythe bloomed, revealing not just a beautiful red rose, but what looked like the barrel of a gun. "…I suppose I'll test this another time." the person muttered, not wanting to wake up Ruby. Speaking of the girl, the person now noticed fresh teas flowing down her face in her sleep. The person quickly retracted the scythe into a baton before moving to wipe the tears.**

As cool as the weapon was, Ruby couldn't help but feel like it was another version of Crescent Rose. It's not a bad thing. In fact, she was kind of flattered, but minus a point or two for originality.

" **What happened to you." The person wondered as he moved his hand away, until Ruby grabbed it in her sleep.**

" **Don't…leave." Ruby whimpered in her sleep, sounding heartbroken and clutching the hand that had wiped her tears like her life depended on it.**

Ruby didn't think that what her other self said was directed to her Blade. It may have been about her mother.

"A cute moment wouldn't you say." Penny said.

"I'll admit it is, but we don't know the guy yet, so I don't want him trying anything with Ruby." Yang was still triggered from that one comment which sounded like a marriage proposal.

 **The person let out a sigh before using his foot to draw a nearby chair closer so he can sit down. As he did this, the person used his free arm to finally take the red hood down. Revealing himself to have a pitch black hair that was mostly chin length. And his face… One could almost call him the male version of Ruby, except for his eyes. They were milky white and pupilless, yet they could see just fine.**

"He is me, but as a guy." Ruby said.

"I believe this is what some people refer to as rule 63."

"But how?"

'Architect's knowledge' activated. "Core crystals are like information processing unit located within a Blade. They gather data about the selection pressures of the outside world, and the biological status of their bonded partner, but also the experiences and emotions they share and send the data to the Aegis. As the data accrues, new evolutionary code is sent back to the core crystal and is used to create new further evolved Blades." Luck explained.

"So Blades have an intricate information network going on between them and this Aegis you speak of." Ozpin said.

"Truly fascinating." Oobleck said while making notes on his scroll about the information presented. When he finished he saw Ruby's confused look. "In simpler terms, the moment you touched the core crystal it took your biological make up and overall status into consideration when you gained a Blade. You influenced the appearance." Oobleck paused for a moment and turned to Luck. "Core crystals do drain aura, but does aura affect the awakening process?"

"I would assume so, but I'm not completely sure. I wasn't awakened by someone with aura. I doubt Klaus would even know. He only gathered so much data about Remnant on short notice trough the Conduit."

" **I won't leave you." The person said sympathetically. "Not until your death, which will not come for a very long time so long as I have a say in it." The person had a smile at the end of what sounded like an oath. "I hope you know how to wield a scythe, but even if you can't, I will teach you. And after that, you can bring the wicked to their knees, and give justice to those who can't reach for it themselves. And as you do that, I will be by your side through all of it. Because that is my duty as your Blade…My Driver." With those final words out of the way, the person touched a glowing blue crystal that was previously covered by lower part of his hood. It had the same blue glow as the Death Dust had, but it was in the shape of a blooming rose.**

 **Throughout all of this Ruby still clutched the hand that had wiped her tears with a smile. It will be interesting to see how she will react to cuddling the hand of a stranger."**

(OST end)

Ruby finished the chapter blushing from the last scene. "That is, uh, quite the commitment." Ruby nervously said. "Also, I do know how to use a scythe."

"What does the Blade mean by the term 'Driver'?" Weiss asked.

"It just a specified term to establish the partnership between a Blade and their bonded partner."

"I noticed that you tried to keep that answer in a general format. Is there any reason why?" Ren asked.

"Humans and faunus with the potential can awaken Blades, but the potential is not limited to them. Even monsters can awaken Blades." That was kind of scary. Imagine if Grimm were able to utilize Blades.

"Is it possible to know what Blade you might get?" Penny asked.

"Generally, no. In my world, it getting a certain Blade is like winning the lottery. You are guaranteed a prize, but you may not get the Blade you want for numerous attempts. However, there are certain core crystals that will get you a specific Blade. It is similar in this alternate reality. I believe that lottery-like system in not present with each core crystal. I think the random factor here is trying to find a specific Blade among all core crystals. You can't tell which from which because all crystals look the same." Luck explained.

"And the music?" Yang asked."

"Just an aesthetic. I hope Q&A is over." Luck said.

* * *

 **That thing with getting Blade at the end. Yeah, I had to get confirmation from Novice4129. I probably didn't explain it well, but you know what I mean.**


	3. Prologue 1-2

**Damn son. 10.6k words, not including AN? Bruh, I feel like I just wrote a chapter in a Harry Potter book. This is longer than chapter 2 in my Castlevania reactions which near 10k words.**

 **Smash Ultimate made me take longer with the production. On that Elite Smash grind for every character. HOW THE HELL DO I USE SHEIK?!**

 **I should say this now.** **I don't have a set schedule. don't let my previous uploads fool you. I will upload when I can.**

* * *

"Ruby, I know the first chapter for your prologue was hard to go through, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to continue and finish your prologue unless you have a reason to have someone else read."

The first chapter was indeed hard. "I-I think I can continue reading Luck."

"Don't push yourself." The rest of the Remnant viewers told her.

"It's okay." Ruby proceeded to read the next chapter.

 **Introductions and Justice**

 **When Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, woke up this morning, he did not expect the nurse to inform him of a strange young man being in the infirmary with one of his students. However, here he was staring at the very sight with a contemplative look. Several questions ran through his head. How did this man get into the Academy? Why is he sitting next to one of his students? Why is the said student sleeping in the infirmary?**

Luckily Ozpin already got some answers to the potential questions from his counterpart because of the current event he is experiencing with the students and Beacon staff member. He knows that he will have more questions as progress is made.

 **The only thing that stops the headmaster from worrying is the fact that the strange man was asleep in his chair. Although he also finds it strange that the man seems to have a thing for roses, if his apparel is any indication. That, and the fact that one of the person's hands was in the sleeping students grasp. But the oddest thing the headmaster found was the similarities between the man and Ruby. As far as Ozpin is aware, Summer Rose only had one child, and she had no other relatives. So many questions, so few answers.**

" _ **I suppose there's only one way to find out.**_ **" Ozpin thought as he brought out his cane on the foot of the metal bed.**

 ***CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!* That was the noise that awoke Ruby and the strange man at the start.**

" **I'M UP! I'M UP!" Ruby cried out like she was napping in class.**

"Rude." Ruby said.

If Ozpin had his coffee mug, he would have been able to hide his smirk behind it. For now, he had to maintain his poker face. He should made a trip to the cafeteria when he had the chance.

 **The strange man however, had pulled a baton out of the holster on his back which unfolded into a gun. With the headmaster staring down the barrel that came out of a blooming rose of all things. "Who are you?" The stranger demanded.**

"His reaction time is remarkable. Had I been an enemy I wouldn't have made that noise purposefully." Ozpin said.

" **Whuh? Professor Ozpin." Ruby exclaimed before turning her attention to the weapon that was threatening the said man. Then the said weapon led her to the wielder. All the way to the milky white eyes of the strange man, who Ruby could** _ **swear**_ **looked familiar, but couldn't put her finger on it.**

" **You know this man?" The stranger asked Ruby, still keeping his weapon pointed at Ozpin's face. All the while the headmaster looked calm like nothing was wrong.**

The student just chalked that up to Ozpin's experience. There was a reason why he held the role of headmaster.

" **It took Ruby a few seconds to find her voice. "He's professor Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon Academy."**

" **Beacon Academy?"**

 **That surprised both Ruby and Ozpin, though the latter didn't show it. This man didn't know about Beacon? Or was he just disoriented from just waking up?**

"If we had to be fair then the former is true. We already know that Blades and… this space is not exactly natural to Remnant." Weiss said.

Yang gasped acting like she just witnessed a rare sight. "The Ice Queen is being reasonable."

"Hush, you. Of course, I can be reasonable."

Her team just looked at her for a moment before bringing her attention back to the story.

" **It's… where we are." Ruby said unsurely, not sure what else to say right now to the man that was threatening the professor.**

 **At the moment Ozpin decided to clear his throat. "Yes, and I would like to know why a stranger is in my school's infirmary with one of my students." The inquiry was polite and neutral, just so that this man wouldn't get violent.**

"Maybe you can learn something from this Ozpin, Yang." Weiss said.

"I can solve things without getting violent." Yang defended herself.

"Name one time you did as you say at Beacon during last semester."

"…"

Weiss claimed the victory.

"… **My apologies." The man said as he retracted his weapon and rebolstered it. "I thought my Driver was threatened."**

" **Driver." Ruby repeated with a head tilt.**

 **The man turned his empty eyes to Ruby. "You."**

" **M-me?" Ruby asked, getting a little flustered. "I don't- I mean- What I- Why?"**

" **Why what." The stranger asked, clearly not understanding Ruby's plight.**

" **Why am I your… driver." Ruby asked, not sure why this weird man called her that.**

"This would have been over our heads if we didn't get some kind of explanation." Jaune said.

"I can make for an interesting joke-" "Miss Xiao Long, please don't. I have my share of our jokes within my classroom, luckily not during my lessons." Oobleck said

"Come on, they are good."

Oobleck engaged in a whispered conversation with Ozpin. "With Ozpin's permission, I can hold back in class for each joke you make until our return."

Yang decide to stay silent.

 **The man stared at Ruby like she was the weird one. "Because you resonated with my Core Crystal." Then the man's eyes widen as he remembered something. "Oh, right. My name is Roze. And from her on out, I will be by your side until death do us apart." The now named Roze said with his hand over the crystal that was now covered by his cloak.**

"I'M NOT READY FOR COMMITMENT!" Ruby cried out.

"I'll make sure of it." Yang firmly said.

"Relax it's not that kind of commitment. He is just referring to the Driver and Blade relationship." Luck reminded them.

"He better." Yang declared.

"That king of relationship kind of relationship isn't exactly impossible." Luck muttered.

"What was that." Yang glared at Luck.

"Roze's name must have been like his appearance from the genetic code provided by Ruby."

"I caught that too. Honestly, it's kinda creepy even if the name is not spelled the same." Blake said.

 **Ruby stared blankly at the now named Roze, before blushing furiously. "WHAT!?" And then she hid under the blanket. "OhmygodwhatisthiswhydidhesaythatdidheproposeI'mnotreadyforthis…" From there on Ruby's overly fast rambling became incoherent as Ozpin stared at Roze with a raised eyebrow, while the red cloaked man stared at the hiding girl.**

"Does that happen once in a while." Penny asked.

"Unfortunately." Yang confirmed.

"Yang and I have been trying to get her to stop that." Weiss said.

" **What is she doing?" The white-eyed young man wondered aloud.**

 **Ozpin was about to answer when the door to the infirmary was slammed open. "RUBY! WHERE ARE YOU!?" Screamed a highly distressed Yang, who eyed the room to locate her sister who was supposed to be here.**

 **That was when Ruby took a peek from under her blanket cocoon, before dashing to Yang in a flurry of rose petals. "YanghelpmethatgutproposedtomeIdon'tknowwhattodowhatshouldIdo! HELP ME!" Ruby rambled into her sister's back which she decided was the perfect place to hide from the guy who turned her into a rambling blushing mess.**

 **Yang only caught bits and pieces of the rambling… However, she caught just enough to. "What guy did WHAT!? And now Yang stared at the most likely culprit in the room with furious red eyes. "What the hell did you do to Ruby, you pedophile." Yang roared angrily, with Roze tilting his head in confusion acting like there was no threat.**

"… **What's a pedophile?" Roze asked unfamiliar with the word.**

"Yang, what's a pedophile?" Ruby asked the same question.

"Oh no. There's two of them." Weiss grimaced. She had grown to tolerate Ruby and acknowledge her as a team leader despite her flaws. Another Ruby, although not exact, would be a problem.

"You don't need to know." Yang told Ruby.

"It probably would matter. The story may tell her." Luck smirked. "I assume you didn't read ahead in this chapter or other chapters?"

That got Yang on alert. She decided to skim through the rest of this chapter and the nest chapter which was the end of the prologue.

Luck quietly whisper the meaning to Ruby while Yang was distracted. "When an older individual is romantically interested in young children your age or younger." Luck wanted to avoid using the term sexual with her. Ruby still got the meaning and quietly blushed. "Don't let the others know I told you."

Yang finished her search. "I didn't find anything." She glared at Luck. "I'm gonna get you at some point for that." She saw Ruby's blush, but assumed I was from the story.

"We know that Ozpin is there Ruby woke up and Roze slept through the rest of the night from the last chapter. Your other self must be ignoring Ozpin's presence, but I will admit that you are right to worry." Pyrrha said.

" **Don't play dumb with me!" Yang did not buy what this guy was selling.**

 **Before Roze could open his mouth to speak, the WB of team RWBY arrived. Clearly out of breath.**

"We won't be giving him a chance to speak." Weiss said.

"Yeah." Blake agreed.

" **Yang, what are you shouting about." Blake managed to ask, before her eyes fell on Ozpin and a man that had a scary resemblance to Ruby.**

" **This creep was perving on Ruby." Yang said readying her fists.**

" **WHAT!?" Weiss screeched, wishing she had Myrtenaster right now.**

"Just taking things out of context." Ren said.

"Not that the other Yang had the context to begin with." Nora added. "Also gives others a bad first impression."

" **Who are you people?" Roze asked defensively, reaching for his weapon, fully expecting a fight.**

 **Only… *CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!* for everyone to be startled by the noise that previously woke up Ruby and Roze. "Ladies, Mr. Roze." Ozpin addressed everyone. "I'm sure everyone wants to know what is going on, but fighting isn't going to give answers."**

"Professor Ozpin, have you ever been a courtroom judge?" Nora randomly asked.

"To the best of my knowledge, no."

 **Yang did not agree with the sentiment. "Professor, this guy was perving on Ruby, what else is there!?"**

" **Miss Xiao Long," Ozpin said sternly, "I was here the whole time and at no point did this man do anything improper with miss Rose." Then the headmaster turned back to Roze. "Which reminds me, you said miss Rose resonated with your Core Crystal, could you explain that?"**

 **That question earned a questioning look from Weiss and Blake, with Yang still keeping her guard up. "This is my Core Crystal." Roze said as he lifted his cloak enough to reveal the blow glowing stone in the shape of a blooming rose on his chest. "When…," the man trailed off like he was searching for a word.**

"He didn't get your name yet, or at least your first name. It can get a bit confusing if someone is referring to you or him." Jaune said.

"That is true." Ruby agreed.

" **Ruby." Ozpin supplied, figuring he was looking for a name.**

" **Yes, Ruby." And he was right. "When she touched my dormant Crystal I resonated with her and awakened."**

" **B-but I never touched a crystal looking like that." Ruby piped up meekly from behind Yang, still not able to look Roze in the eye. "I only touched…" Ruby trailed off as memories of last night came back to her, "Oh no, that's right! Cardin tried to kill me!"**

"Way to instantly shift attention." Jaune commented.

" **WHAT"!?" Was the universal reaction from WBY and Roze. Ozpin, to his credit, only widen his eyes.**

"Quite a morbid thought. My students committing murder in my school." That would be a first throughout all of his lives. Maybe this viewing will show Ozpin how lax he has been.

"Why is Roze surprised at the revelation?" Penny asked.

"I don't think he is aware of the circumstances of his awakening." Pyrrha answered.

" **Ruby!? When!? What did he do?" Yang asked frantically while turning to Ruby and grabbed her shoulders before shaking harder than probably healthy.**

"Ms. Xiao Long, had your sister actually been injured I don't think your shaking would help her." Ozpin told Yang.

Yang sighed in shame.

" **Y-Yang, I'm gonna be sick." Ruby whined as the vertigo was getting to her.**

"You better not vomit on me."

"Your other self isn't helping."

 **But all activity ceased when they heard a weapon being cocked. Roze had pulled his weapon and pointed the barrel at Yang's head at point blank range. "Let go of my Driver." Roze said in a cold tone.**

" **Mr. Roze." Ozpin said sternly. "Miss Xiao Long is Miss Rose's older sister. She has the right to be worried about what happened."**

 **Roze didn't seem to acknowledge Ozpin, instead turning to Ruby, "Is this true?" A simple question.**

"The only person he seems to trust is Ruby if only by this Driver-Blade relationship Luck mention." Oobleck said. "Outside of he everyone else is a stranger. It's only natural I suppose."

" **Y-yes." Ruby said feeling worried about her sister.**

 **Few more seconds passed with Roze locking into Ruby's eyes as if trying to see her very soul. Then he put his weapon away. "My apologies." This action earned blanched looks from Weiss and Blake. This wierdo acted like he wasn't ready to blow Yang's brains out, and not in a fun way. "Now, who is this Cardin that tried to kill you and how?" Roze quickly asked Ruby, who still felt apprehensive of the guy that claimed to stay by her side until death did them apart.**

"That's definitely not normal for any of us. I doubt anyone here would let that go." Blake said.

"Blades act just as human-like as any of you. We do contain the genetic code of mankind within our Core Crystals. That could mean that some people do act like that." Luck informed her.

" **H-he made me touch the Death Dust." Ruby said meekly, earning horrified looks from her team and Ozpin, and a confused look from Roze.**

" **What is this 'Death Dust'?" Roze asked. This time, no one was surprised.**

" **Death Dust is a recently discovered Dust that kills anyone who touches it." Yang replied while lifting Ruby's pajama top to see any damage.**

"Guys, look away." Yang commanded.

Ozpin and Oobleck turned away, not wanting to see their students like that. Ren and Jaune had their eyes covered by their partners. Ren did respect the privacy of a girl to close his own eyes before someone did it for him. He did live with Nora most of his life.

" **YANG!" Ruby did not like it as she was trying to keep her shirt down. After all, there was a guy less than a meter away.**

" **Not kill," Ozpin corrected, "but inflict damage on anyone who touches it, which makes me wonder…" Ozpin trailed off as he took his personal Scroll out and tapped something on it. "Have you seen anything like this before." Ozpin asked as he showed a picture of Death Dust on his scroll to Roze.**

 **The rose themed man frowned at the image. "That's a Core Crystal." Roze said simply.**

"Straight from the source." Ozpin said.

" **WHAT!?" Came out of the girls, including Ruby.**

Nora gasped. "The revelations."

" **A Core Crystal, a dormant one." Roze explained thinking they didn't hear him. Then the man's eyes widened. "Ruby, did you touch something like this last night." Roze asked showing the image to Ruby.**

" **Y-yes." Ruby said getting bad memories from the Crystal.**

 **At that, Roze had gone into thinking for a few seconds before he started laughing.**

"HEY, I ALMOST DIED!". Ruby shouted.

"AS insensitive as it may be, given the circumstances, the outcome is very ironic. Not Only did this Cardin fellow failed at trying to kill you, but he gave you a new ally and witness. Several years from now, your other self would tell this story for the future generation." Luck said.

" **What's so funny." Weiss asked, not liking someone laughing at her partner's near death.**

" **This Cardin thought he could kill Ruby with a rejection, but instead she awakened me." Roze explained before laughing harder. "Who would've thought that I would gain a Driver through a failed assassination attempt."**

" **What do you mean Ruby awakened you?" Blake asked not being able to wrap her head around this.**

" **I meant that instead of being rejected by my Crystal, Ruby awakened me as her Blade." Roze explained like it was obvious.**

"That wasn't particularly helpful." Blake said.

" **What is a Blade?" Ozpin asked out of curiosity.**

" **It's what I am." Roze replied simply**

"Sounds like a Ruby explanation." Weiss said.

"Hey!"

" **Are you telling me," Weiss started, pointing at the picture on the Scroll that Roze was still holding, "that this became you because Ruby touched it?" And then the white haired girl pointed between Roze and the picture.**

" **Yes." The dead pan answer irritated Weiss.**

"Fortunately we've seen an awakening done in front of us so I doubt Weiss would be as irritated like her other." Yang said.

Weiss had to acknowledge it.

" **NO! NO! THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE! You're insane." Weiss denied before turning to Ozpin. "Headmaster, we have to arrest this dangerous lunatic."**

" **I believe him." Ozpin said simply, earning blanched looks from everyone except Ruby and Roze. "Or at least, the fact that he's not dangerous."**

" **You can't be serious." Yang said, still not trusting this guy who appeared out of nowhere and apparently wants to spend the rest of his life with Ruby. She's too young to be dating. That and moments before pointed a gun at her head.**

"You probably did date a guy at Ruby's age. You just want Ruby to stay pure." Luck said.

"I can't have her dating some random guy that neither of us know or I don't know." Yang replied while ignoring the first part.

"So you don't deny the claim that you possibly dated a guy at the age of 15?" Blake asked Yang. She did take interest in a guy until after she became 16 while serving the White Fang. That relationship was not going well and got to the point to where she had to leave.

Yang stayed silent.

"Looks like your gonna have to give me a little bit more freedom." Ruby said to Yang.

" **I am, but that is not important right now." Ozpin said before extending his hand to Roze. "May I have my Scroll back?"**

" **Of course." Roze replied and handed the device over.**

" **Let's see." Ozpin muttered as he pulled up a student register and started searching. "Do you recognize this young man." Ozpin asked as he showed a picture of Cardin.**

" **Yes, he attacked me last night." Roze replied with a scowl. "Who is he?"**

" **That's Cardin." Ruby said shivering at the memory from last night. "He's a bully and a mean jerk."**

" **And I'm gonna beat the crap outta him." Yang said, cracking her knuckles as her attention was refocused on the fact that this asshole tried to kill Ruby.**

"You read it Ruby. Not me." Yang said.

Before Ruby could respond, Oobleck spoke. "Ladies, while you may still be children please remember that you are huntresses in training. Eventually, you won't be able to afford to act in such a way."

"Can I at least fight our Cardin when we get back?" Yang wanted to beat the Cardin of their world for the actions of his other.

"As long as it's a sanctioned match."

" **May I join you?" Roze asked in a tone that could cut through Grimm.**

"Sorry, but this is a personal matter." Yang said.

" **That won't be necessary." Ozpin said, earning outraged looks from WBY and death glare from Roze. "Because we already have enough evidence to not only expel Mr. Winchester, but also throw him in jail for a long time." The headmaster quickly clarified.**

 **That calmed the girls down somewhat. "Good riddance I say." Weiss huffed.**

 **That's not good enough." Roze said, earning a worried look from Ozpin.**

" **We need to let the authorities-" "Not that." Roze interrupted with a white hot fire in his eyes. "Ruby needs to beat him."**

" **Whuh? Why?" Ruby stammered, clutching her sister's back tighter.**

" **To make him pay for hurting you." Roze said sternly, before shifting for a smile. "And to give you closure."**

"It's better for Ms. Rose to deal with her own problem head on." Ozpin said.

"I guess that's okay." Yang preferred to be the combatant.

" **But… I don't have a weapon anymore." Ruby said with a hiccup.**

" **Yes you do." Roze said as he took his own weapon in its compact form and offered it to Ruby.**

" **I… I can't. It's your weapon." Ruby said, even though part of her wanted to at least check it out.**

"It's true that the weapon is his. But as the name of our kind implies, he is a Blade, your Blade. While beings such as ourselves can be considered weapons, we do prefer to be treated like any other person. The bond between a Blade and Driver can be just as valuable as any relationship you have established in your life time." Luck explained.

"But- "None of that please. It's just fact" Luck interrupted Ruby. "Just accept it.

Ruby had to accept it.

"You know, Ruby. You should consider yourself lucky. His weapon is very similar to yours." Pyrrha said

"Your right Pyrrha. I may not have to change my fighting style." Ruby smiled for her other self. "I would still rebuild Crescent Rose."

" **Yes, and I am your Blade." Roze said as if that should explain everything.**

" **What does that mean?" Blake asked in suspicion.**

 **Roze sighed. "it means I belong to Ruby."**

"I said it earlier. Now comes the misunderstanding." Luck said.

The students can only sit back as they watch the drama unfold.

" **Okay, buster. That's too close." Yang said as she backed up with Ruby. She seriously couldn't help but have less than innocent thoughts about that statement. "Ruby's not that kind of girl." The busty blonde said in a warning tone.**

" **YAAANG" Ruby whined with a blush.**

" **What do you mean by 'that kind of girl'?" Roze clearly not liking Ruby's reaction to the term.**

" **What Miss Xiao Long is trying to say is…" Ozpin interjected before further misunderstandings could happen, "…that Miss Rose wields a scythe that is also a sniper rifle."**

 **Roze turned towards Ozpin with a questioning look. Then he let out a chuckle. "What a coincidence." And with that, the weapon turned into it's scythe form, surprising everyone. "That's exactly what my weapon is." Roze added in before he felt his weapon leave his hand. A quick glance and everyone saw the scythe at the hands of a starry eyed Ruby.**

"Looks like Ozpin covered the misunderstandings with his own." Jaune said.

"A more suitable outcome from what could have potentially happen Mr. Arc." Ozpin said before turning to Ruby. "Ms. Rose I do hope you can restrain yourself from grabbing hold of another person's possessions like that even if they grant you access to their possessions."

"Um, okay." Ruby said nervously. She couldn't help herself. It was a new weapon and it was similar to her own.

" **How did you build it? Where does the blade retract to? Whatkindofammodoesituse-" Ruby's high speed ramble was interrupted by Roze's finger on her lip.**

"Ruby, do you use your semblance when speaking or is that natural?" Nora asked.

"That's just her normal ramble without using her semblance." Yang answered for Ruby, embarrassing her.

Ruby would have said it was her semblance as a cover.

"… **That weapon is as much part of me as your arm is to you. But as my Driver, you and only you have the right to wield it." Roze explained, completely ignoring Ruby's questions.**

 **Though that doesn't seem to matter as Ruby jumped to hug the much taller man. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"**

"Don't be over affectionate Ruby. You still don't know the guy." Yang said.

" **It's my duty as your Blade." Roze said while patting Ruby's head. An action Yang did not like.**

" **Okay, that's enough of that." Yang said as she peeled her overly grateful sister off this creepy empty eyed guy that was probably in his late twenties at least.**

"Just want to say that age doesn't necessarily apply to us. Our physical appearance may suggest our age, but we are technically ageless. You may also assume a Blades age by how long a Blade has remained active or by general time of a Blade creation which would be at least 500 years." Luck informed everyone.

Oobleck and Penny recorded that statement.

"You don't seem that much older than the rest of us physically." Ren observed the Blade.

"Your free to assume an age for me if you want." Luck said. "On with the reading."

" **Yaang, he was being nice." Ruby complained, still holding the new scythe. It's not Crescent Rose but it's still beautiful and cool.**

 **Shouldn't you four be at Professor Port's class by now?" Ozpin asked off handedly, earning shocked looks from others. "And I suggest Miss Rose goes to change into her uniform." That reminded everyone, especially Ruby that she had been in her pajamas since last night.**

"I know that Port's class may not be the most exciting, but you should ignore his class. The knowledge of Grimm elimination methods that are contained within his stories are useful even if they seem outrageous. I advise not reenacting any of the scenarios from his stories." Oobleck told the students.

" **I'll be right back." Ruby shouted before vanishing in a flurry of rose petals.**

" **To class now." Weiss shouted even as she started running with the rest of the team following suit.**

" **Except you Mr. Roze." Ozpin said before the rose themed Blade could move.**

" **What is it? I need to be with Ruby." Roze said, sounding a little annoyed.**

" **You sound rather obsessed about Miss Rose." Ozpin said dryly while fixing his glasses.**

 **Roze crossed his arms across his chest. "if that Cardin is after Ruby, I need to be there to=" "That's what her team is for. Also, Miss Rose has one of the finest performance records in combat classes." Ozpin interrupted, recognizing the Blade's behavior as overprotectiveness.**

Ruby didn't need another person acting like her dad or Yang, but she did smile at the confirmation that Ozpin recognizes her performance in combat class.

" **And compared to Cardin?" Roze asked sternly**.

" **Its against my policy to compare students to each other." Ozpin said neutrally, earning a dissatisfied scowl. "But let's say that… if Mr. Winchester focused on his training he might have actually had a chance.**

"It seems like Cardin doesn't have the best academic record and maybe combat record." Penny said. "Honestly, I think there is a bit of favoritism there."

"You think? I believe any team or person would be better than Cardin and his team." Jaune said.

 **Roze smiled at the answer, happy to know that his Driver is anything but a pushover. "All the more reason she should practice being a Driver if Cardin is just a punching bag." The rose themed Blade said with a twinkle in his white eyes.**

The Beacon students liked that description of Cardin.

" **Very well." Ozpin conceded. "There will be combat class later today. Do you need anything… special for the practice?"**

" **No just make sure I get to fight alongside Ruby." Roze said having a forlorn look. "Anyway, was there anything else?"**

" **No, that is all for now." Ozpin simply said.**

"Since I got his weapon, how is he going to fight?" Ruby asked, worried for her Blade.

"Maybe hand to hand." Ren suggested.

" **Great, I'll head to where Ruby is." Roze then said before moving out. Ignoring Glynda Goodwitch who had been behind the said door for some time now.**

"SHE WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME?!" Was team RWBY's response.

"It seems like something she would do with the type of person she is." Nora said. "She takes her job seriously."

"That's actually kind of scary." Jaune said.

" **Ozpin, are you sure he isn't simply a mad man?" Glynda asked in exasperation. The things she puts up with Ozpin… "I mean, being born from a crystal? That sound like a fairy tale." The disciplinarian said in annoyance.**

"Maybe so, but this is more like science fiction." Ozpin commented.

 **Ozpin gave his assistant a meaningful look. "That is true, Glynda. But some fairy tales have a grain of truth to them. You know this as well as I do."**

"Fairy tales have a bit of truth Professor?" Oobleck asked the headmaster.

"A bit." Ozpin confirmed.

"Then why aren't some of these fairy tales consider myths?"

"As far as the world is concerned there is no proof to back it up. They are just stories to inspire children." Ozpin explained. He now has a slight fear that some secrets may be revealed within this reading.

Oobleck just accepted that reasoning.

" **This is completely different from that." Glynda said in annoyance. "What is he proves a threat to the students?"**

" **Then we will deal with him accordingly." Ozpin replied with a note of seriousness. "But for now, we observe and see if he really is a threat. I trust you heard what he wished for today's combat class."**

 **Glynda let out a tired sigh, knowing that further discussion is useless. "Yes, though I have to ask, why not simple have Mr. Winchester arrested instead of going through with this non-sense?"**

"Because simply arresting him is boring. Got to break his legs or something." Nora said.

Penny tilted her head wondering if that was allowed for punishment.

Ren sighed at Nora's antics.

 **Ozpin, began to walk out of the infirmary before answering. "… Part of me agrees with Miss Rose needing closure. And I'm curious to see how our mysterious young man plans to fight without his weapon."**

 **With one last sigh, Goodwitch fished out her personal scroll to make arrangements. Though mostly, just to have the police arrive at the exact moment of what could be described as "public execution". Not that she minded. If it were up to her, Team CRDL would have been expelled a long time ago. Sadly, Ozpin believed in giving everyone a chance, not a bad mentality in itself, but sometimes rotten apples just appear.**

"There are some people who don't deserve a second chance." Ren said.

"Roze is going to where we are, right? How are we going to explain his presences?" Weiss asked.

"One look at him and people will immediately assume a connection with Ruby." Blake gave a realistic outcome.

 **(Lunch hour)**

 **Yang tried, she really did. But she just can't shake Roze off Ruby. Seriously, whenever the next class started the busty blonde of Team RWBY had grabbed her sister and took roundabout ways to the next class, much to Ruby's and Weiss's annoyance. For Ruby, because she started to like her Blade, even though she still has no idea what that means. For Weiss, because as much as she was freaked out by the person who had white eyes and still had vision, she felt like going out of their way to lose him was pointless. Anyway, that wasn't the problem because at the end of each class Roze was always waiting outside the classroom. Even when Yang managed to sneak Ruby out of class among the crowd, the guy was hot on their heels.**

"Is that really necessary Yang?" Ruby questioned her sister.

"I'd say I have some justification." Yang replied.

"I'd rather not be late to class because of your protection." Weiss sternly told Yang.

"Then why didn't you just go straight to class?"

Why didn't the other Weiss go straight to class if she thought it was pointless to attempt to lose the Blade? Weiss turned to Luck. "Do Blades have some kind of sixth sense?"

"Generally no unless it's a special skill for them."

"So it may be a semblance or just general awareness. Roze may have also got information from Ozpin about our location behind the scenes." Weiss concluded.

" **Sooo… who is this?" Jaune, leader of Team JNPR asked from the opposite seat in the cafeteria.**

" **Someone who won't leave us alone." Yang grumbled from her seat next to Ruby who was eating a plateful of cookies. Speaking of which, on the other side of Ruby was Roze, who had been impassively sitting while observing the new people that was Team JNPR.**

" **What, like a Stalker?" Nora, the infinite well of energy of Team JNPR inquired with a savage grin. "Need me to break his legs?"**

"Your free to try if you want." Luck said to Nora.

"Can I try with you?" Nora asked with a savage grin.

"Do you have your weapon on you?"

"No, but I know where to get it because of Jaune." So Nora didn't go to the storage area. Perfect!

Luck use his executive authority within their area to summon a holographic console from the deive given to him by Klaus. "Good luck on trying to get your weapon because I just locked the area. I hope you have more than enough physical strength to force your way in."

Since Nora can't break Luck's legs at the moment, she had to continue viewing the reality. "I can't believe you didn't get my weapon Jaune."

"I don't think we would actually need our weapons. I only got Ruby's because of what happened in the previous chapter." Jaune explained.

" **Nora, no." Ren, the gunner of Team JNPR and Nor'a childhood friend, sain in monotone. He's also the only person capable of keeping Nora in line.**

" **Okay, Ren." Nora said before returning to inhaling her food with surprising ease.**

"I'm surprised hasn't choked." Jaune muttered.

" **Sooo, where are you from?" Pyrrha, the four time Mistralian champion, also known as the 'Invincible Girl', decided to ask Roze.**

 **The rose themed Blade gave Pyrrha one look before answering. "…I don't understand the question."**

 **That answer earned weird looks from Team JNPR. "Which Kingdom are you from?" Pyrrha tried again.**

"… **What do you mean by Kingdom?" Roze asked, causing Weiss to face-palm, Blake to give an incredulous look, and Yang to plant her face on the table. All the while Team JNPR shared a look with each other.**

" **Umm… Vale, Atlas, Vacuo and Mistral." Pyrrha said, now getting unnerved by the level of ignorance a twenty-something man had about the world.**

"… **I have never heard of them." Roze said, sounding completely serious.**

I assume that there are some villages in your world. Do you not have any Kingdoms?" Pyrrha asked luck.

"There are a few Kingdoms, but they are on the verge of destruction. Even without the threat od destruction, one of them would fall from a lack of resources. Of course, none of the standing Kingdoms can compare to a Kingdom from the past. It was once known as 'the Golden Country'. I guess even the strongest or highly regarded Kingdom can fall."

Quite a dreadful thought. In Remnant the strongest Kingdom would be Atlas while Vale would be a highly regarded Kingdom from their history. What would happen if those two or the other Kingdoms fell? What would it mean?

" **Okay, now you're just messing with us." Nora said, now getting too close to his face, which surprisingly didn't faze the white eyed man.**

" **He's insane." Weiss said, not wanting to deal with this. "Just don't talk to him.**

" **Aiff! Hah teen." Ruby said through a mouthful of cookies.**

"Don't talk with your mouth full Ruby." Weiss scolded her partner.

"She's right. Your other self just had a near death experience. Your other self might choke to death if she keeps speaking with a mouthful and doesn't slow down." Luck said.

It would suck to die early like that. Maybe Ruby should slow down and eat less at once.

" **Ruby, don't talk with your mouth full." Weiss scolded getting more annoyed by the second.**

Weiss blinked. Déjà vu.

 **While this happened, Yang lifted her head. "Just do as Weiss says, he's a wierdo." Yang said, still suspicious of Roze. But her priorities still lied in keeping Cardin away from her baby sister.**

 **Speaking of which, the said bully was few tables away, glancing at their tables nervously. Though only Roze noticed it and couldn't help smiling savagely at a chance to get his hands on the bastard. Only… that honor belonged to Ruby, but that's okay. At least he will be there to support her.**

"I will admit, Roze's presence alone is enough to put fear into Cardin which is funny to see." Yang said with a smirk.

 **During the Blades musings, Team JNPR was shocked that Yang agrees with something Weiss says.**

"True. That's not something you see every day." Blake commented.

" **Uhh… Okay." Jaune said as he returned to his food, not questioning anything. After all, that was one of the pre-requisites for living with Nora without losing your mind.**

 **The rest of the gang, including Nora, may have stopped paying attention to Roze, but unfortunately the rest of the cafeteria hasn't. after all, everyone was talking about the "White eyed Rose Hunter". The "Rose Hunter part is a joke on the fact that it looks like this guy always goes near Ruby.**

Ruby blushed at the last part. Even Yang had let out a small giggle at the joke dspite the fact that she doesn't approves of Roze 100%.

 **Which makes people wonder, is he Ruby's father? Her brother? Or just a crazy stalker?**

"We can rule out the first option since I know Mr. Xiao Long and I doubt the last option is possible." Ozpin said.

"It seems likely that Mr. Roze can pose as Ms. Rose's older brother." Oobleck said.

"I always did wonder what it would be like to have a brother either older or younger." Ruby thought out loud.

"Are you thinking of replacing me?" Yang asked as if she was offended by the though.

"I can't replace you, but it does feel like you sometimes don't act like an older sister. Maybe we do need an older brother."

"I prefer younger. You can be the middle child if you want. Then I can delegate task to both of you." Yang said. "Maybe shift some blame on you if something goes wrong." She muttered the last part.

"What was the last part?"

"Nothing."

Ruby didn't buy that, but she decide to continue reading.

" **sooo. How do you know RWBY." Jaune decided to ask one more time earning the rose themed man's attention.**

"… **I belong to Ruby." Roze said like nothing was wrong with that statement.**

 **That earned blanched looks from Ren. A furious blush from Pyrrha. And Nora choked on her food.**

"I meant the team, not the individual." Jaune grimaced.

" **DON"T SAY IT LIKE THAT!" Ruby cried out with a blush that rivaled her own cloak in color.**

" **Why not? It's the truth." Roze asked Ruby, utterly confused by the reaction.**

" **Soo," Nora said in a sing song voice, "you two are together-together huh?"**

"NOOO!" Ruby cried out.

"I'm starting to notice how many time a person starts with 'so'." Penny randomly pointed out.

"Huh, you're right." Yang said.

" **NO THEY'RE NOT!" Yang shouted while forcibly switching seats with Ruby, before getting into Roze's face. "Now listen her , you creep. I don't care what you think you are, but don't you dare drag my baby sister into your weird fantasies." Yang said through gritted teeth with her eyes going red.**

 **To everyone's utter shock, Roze looked less than impressed. "… I don't understand what your trying to say."**

 **That was the last straw for Yang. "Then understand this!" and went to introduce this freaky creep to her fist.**

"How can you not understand? I was as straight forward as possible." Yang complained.

"Maybe... he's not feeling what the other you is thinking." Ruby suggested.

It's possible. Ruby doesn't feel that way about anyone yet and she knows that she wouldn't feel that way about someone she just met.

 **(Some time later)**

" **One day… One day I'll show him." Yang grumbled, still angry about not being able to land a single hit on the guy. Right now, they were in combat class. With Roze sitting away from them at Ruby's request.**

"Maybe if you were thinking rationally you would have managed to land a hit." Penny suggested.

"Anger can be a weapon if used correctly. However, it doesn't seem like you can." Luck told Yang.

That triggered Yang to some degree. If she acted now she knew felt as though Ozpin and Oobleck would say that she proved Lucks point.

" **I doubt it." Weiss said almost sounding regretful. Even though she was unnerved by the guy possibly having less than innocent thoughts about Ruby, she had to acknowledge his ability to at least dodge all of Yang's attacks like it was nobody's business. Though they had to consider themselves lucky when Glynda appeared to stop the fight before it could become destructive.**

" **Yeah, he's definitely better than the average student." Blake added in. though what scared her a little was the fact that Roze seemed more… annoyed than worried about Yang's attacks during the fight.**

"Even though we didn't see the fight, we can at least speculate his ability." Pyrrha said.

 **Ruby just sat quietly as Yang was fuming. While Roze clearly didn't mean anything, Yang was most likely thinking, the red reaper doesn't know what to do. He seemed nice and even allows her to wield his weapon. Although… Ruby doesn't like the idea of replacing Crescent Rose. That weapon is still her treasure, even when it's in pieces.**

Ruby hugged her weapon. "Even if you break, I will fix you even if I had a Blade." She talked to her weapon.

"Your free to do what you want." Luck commented.

 **Meanwhile, Team JNPR as well as other students were staring at the man who was sitting comfortably like he didn't cause a commotion earlier.**

 **Roze himself was getting annoyed at the stares he was getting. Why were these people acting like they never seen a Blade before? What did they teach in this school? Then again, it seemed like the headmaster was ignorant about the Core Crystals so he can only assume the staff to be just as incompetent. However, what he was curious about right now was his Driver. Ozpin said she was good, but considering his ignorance… Well, seeing is believing as they say.**

Ozpin and Oobleck can brush off the comment of them being incompetent or ignorant.

"Blades are new to us as our world will be new to them." Ozpin said.

" **Alright students, settle down." Glynda called out to the class from the small arena where the fights for combat class would be taken. "I'm sure everyone has noticed that we have a… guest among us." Glynda said referring to Roze. "Mr. Roze here is a visiting huntsman. He wishes to see how capable our school's future huntsmen and huntresses are." The professor explained the little cover story. After all, no one would believe someone being born from a crystal.**

"A reasonable cover. I think everyone else came to the conclusion that he's related to Ruby." Penny commented.

 **That caused some murmurs among the students. And confusion among team RWBY.**

" **Now, we will start by randomly selecting three students. One to fight Mr. Roze, the other two against him and his partner." Glynda explained as a large screen that was used to monitor the students' aura in matches. "Any questions?" the professor asked her students as the monitor started randomizing the students that would take part in this. Except the result is rigged to give Roze what he apparently wants.**

" **Why is a student teaming up with an experienced huntsman?" one student asked.**

" **Because Mr. Roze wishes to test your ability to work with someone you have just met." Glynda explained easily. During all of this, the Blade himself had no idea why the professor wasn't telling the truth.**

"It's not like his existence can easily be explained." Weiss said.

"The cover up does hold up. Sometimes you may have to work with other huntsmen and huntress you barely know or a team you know yet barely support. This can happen as students or as official huntsmen and huntresses." Ozpin told his students.

" _ **Blades and Drivers are supposed to be common knowledge. Why isn't she telling the truth?"**_ **Roze thought with bitterness. How can these people be so ignorant?**

 **Then the "randomization" was complete. It showed Ruby and Roze vs Cardin and Russel.**

"CAGE MATCH!" Nora shouted.

"There isn't a cage Nora." Ren said.

"It might as well be one. The results were fixed so Cardin can be caught." Nora explained.

That was actually true.

" **It looks like we have our fighters." Glynda said with a faint smile. Rare occurrence, if anyone could even tell she was doing it. "Now, Mr. Winchester, Mr. Thrush, Miss Rose, and Mr. Roze, would you step into the arena."**

"Definitely a rare occurrence." Was the Beacon crew's response.

 **Ruby bounced off her seat at being called… Before gasping. "I forgot the weapon in our room." When she returned to the dorm to switch to her school uniform, she had left the weapon there. Because after what happened to Crescent Rose, she didn't trust the lockers.**

" **Oh great." Weiss sighed while holding her forehead.**

"It's just a minor inconvenience." Weiss told herself.

" **I'll be right back." Ruby shouted before dashing off to get said weapon. Meanwhile, Roze made his way to the arena while chuckling at Ruby's antics.**

 **After waiting for Ruby to come back with Roze's scythe. The combatants were in the arena.**

 **Ruby was nervous. Sure, she has beaten Cardin before, but him trying to kill her still made her scared. Seeing Roze's weapon and being with her team the whole day had made her keep the whole thing out of her mind, but now… She couldn't help but tremble a little.**

" **What's the matter brat? Scared?" Cardin mocked openly. Though the bully was still worried about being found out about his attempted murder as well as theft.**

"Rip him a new one." Yang told the other Ruby despite not being heard.

 **Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to see that it was Roze who was giving a confident smile. "It's going to be alright. Remember, I'll help too." The words were emphasized by a light pat on Ruby's back.**

"How is he going to fight if I have his weapon?" Ruby was worried for her Blade.

"He'll be fine." Luck shortly said.

 **That eased Ruby's fears a lot. "Let's do this." Ruby said as she prepares the rose themed scythe.**

(Play XC2 OST: Battle!)

" **Ready. Begin." Goodwitch announced.**

 **And no sooner had the announcement sounded, did Ruby dash off to face Cardin and Russel, the bullies having a surprised look for some reason.**

"Huh." Was the Remnant's crew's intelligent response.

" **What's going on!?" a random student yelled.**

" **What is that light!?" Another questioned.**

 **Ruby didn't notice it herself, but right before she dashed, Roze pointed his arms at Ruby and some kind of energy cord came out of his body and attached itself to Ruby. Though what Goodwitch was able to note despite her own surprise, was that it was less of a cord being attached and more of energy being transferred to Ruby. If the flowing movement was any indication.**

"What is that?" The students asked.

"Is it some kind of semblance?" Oobleck wondered.

"It has nothing to do with aura or semblance." Luck informed everyone. "It's called an affinity link. Let's just say that it will help Ruby." Luck didn't seem willing to give more information.

 **Though right now, Cardin was barely blocking Ruby's furious attacks with his mace. He hated the fact this twerp was putting him on the defense, despite being just an annoying brat. "Russel! Don't just stand there, help me!" the brown haired asshole yelled to his partner.**

 **Russel was still shaken by their attempt on Ruby's life, so he wasn't exactly… thrilled to fight her now. However, his leader's order snapped him into action. Closing into strike Ruby with his daggers.**

 **It would have been a perfect sneak attack, what with Ruby focusing on Cardin. That is, if Roze hadn't come in front of Russel and blocked him with a barrier of some kind. Which was soon followed by Ruby spinning in a circle with the scythe, hitting both Cardin and Russel. While Roze ducked under it with a smirk at Russel who was flung away.**

"Am I correct to assume that the barrier Roze provided is also not affect by aura?" Oobleck asked Luck.

Luck nod in confirmation. "What you just witness are the two universal abilities of Blades. The barrier is self-explanatory, and you will soon find out about the affinity link."

 **Cardin to his credit was merely knocked back, before receiving a hit from the smaller scythe blade in the face. Would've been ugly without his aura protecting him. Speaking of which, the bully's aura has already dipped down to 75 percent thanks to that combo attack.**

"You deserved to get scar-faced." Yang said.

"Ms. Xiao Long-" "I'm not taking that back." Ozpin abandoned the subject.

 **Although, some of the audience was still questioning why Roze's aura isn't shown on the screen, including WBY.**

" **How is he doing that?" Weiss asked in astonishment. "Was that his semblance?" Weiss asked referring to the barrier Roze made.**

" **If that is his semblance, then what is that… link?" Blake questioned seeing the energy link that connected Ruby to Roze was still active.**

 **Pyrrha had a contemplative look at the question. "I have heard of people sharing aura with allies to strengthen themselves, but they need to touch each other for it to work." The Mistral champion explained. During which the arena burst into a chorus of laughter and whincing. Unfortunately, the gang missed the reason as they focused on Pyrrha's explanation. All they saw was Russel being flung upwards. Before landing in an awkward position.**

"We got a view of the reason now." Nora commented.

" **Maybe the barrier is like how Ren focuses his aura to his palms." Nora gave a surprisingly smart answer, though she was miffed at missing something funny.**

Nora smiled at her smart moment.

" **Unlikely." Ren said with a serious look. "I can only use aura manipulation to focus aura on parts of my body to increase my defense. What he used, looked too much detailed barrier semblance to be simple aura manipulation." Indeed, the barrier had a hexagonal pattern on it. Like multiple pieces forming a shield.**

" **That's not even counting how he is moving with Ruby so well." Yang said, not sounding hostile for a change. "I mean. Did you see how he ducked under Ruby's swing without looking?"**

" **Guys… is it just me or is Ruby moving faster?" Jaune then asked.**

"An interesting conversation, but what is this about Ruby getting faster?" Penny asked.

Ruby had witnessed herself move faster. "I know I've been training with you guys, but I'm not able to move that fast yet."

"It must be the affinity link Roze put up. It must be boosting Ruby's speed." Weiss deduced.

"Correct." Luck said. "There are some additional positive effects too."

 **Back in the arena, Cardin was getting overwhelmed. He could swear that Roze guy mumbled something as Ruby's strikes became faster. Unfortunately, even if it was true it wouldn't mean a thing when he can barely block one and two out of a hundred strikes. Or that's how it felt. Not to mention his useless teammate was knocked away with a well placed strike in the crotch from the smaller blade of the scythe. Honestly, Cardin should consider himself lucky that it wasn't him that got hit.**

"Would have been better if he did get hit there." Came the Beacon students' unanimous comment.

" **ENOUGH ALREADY!" Cardin shouted while giving a good sucker punch into Ruby' face. Her aura took the brunt of it, but she stumbled enough for Cardin to get an opening. "JUST DIED ALREADY!" Cardin roared as he brought down his mace with all the might he could muster.**

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Yang cried out.

" **RUBY!" Yang cried out in horror. Ruby's aura was still almost untouched since she hadn't used her semblance in this fight, but that didn't stop Yang from fearing for Ruby's life as the mace came down.**

" **THORN BARRIER!" Was heard from the arena before Cardin's mace connected, releasing an explosion from the Dust Crystal in it in the process.**

" **RUBY! NO!" Yang shouted again in concern, feeling her heart twist, partly from the massive explosion, partly from Cardin's declaration. But no one could see what happened to Ruby from the dust that kicked up from the explosion.**

 **All they saw was Roze, who was still connected to Ruby with the energy cord. "I made it." The rose themed Blade sighed in relief as the dust was clearing.**

 **When the dust cleared, everyone saw Cardin on one knee while panting. And Ruby… she was on her butt on the floor surrounded by several rings of silvery energy that was in the shape of thorny vines.**

" **WHAT** IS **THAT!?"** Nora **screamed** while **pointing at the** screen **.**

Almost scary on how well Nora timed that.

"It's another barrier, but it's different from before." Penny said.

"You'll get your explanation from the story." Luck urged Ruby to continue reading.

 **That made everyone else look at the screen at the impossibility that made Nora scream. Ruby's aura was untouched, while Cardin's aura had plummeted even more. The Beacon bully had less than 25 percent of his aura left.**

"What happened?" Everyone asked.

" **Thorn barrier." Roze said to the audience. "My second skill. It blocks one attack and reflects a portion of the damage it would've caused to the attacker." As soon as the explanation finished, the thorns around Ruby vanished.**

"A portion of the damage? That seemed like full damage." Jaune said incredulously.

"THAT MEANS THAT RUBY COULD HAVE POTENTIALLY DIED RIGHT THERE!" Yang shouted in fear of potentially watching the public execution of her sister's other self.

Ruby shivered at that fact.

"Second skill? What was the first?" Oobleck asked.

"Most likely a speed boost of some kind outside of the link." Luck said. Each Blade has their own unique skillset. Some Blades may share the same or similar skills with others."

" **I wasn't sure if I had a need to use it, but judging by the damage it did to you, I am glad I did." The rose themed Blade said to Cardin as the blue energy that coursed through his embroideries had become much more prominent. That, and his cloak had moved in a way that revealed his glowing Core Crystal to the world. "Well then," Roze said as he glanced at Russel who was getting up, "I think it's time to finish this." The mohawked member of team CRDL whimpered as the sight of Roze's white eyes that seemed to thirst for his blood. "Ruby," Roze called for the fellow red caped reaper with an extended hand.**

"Thanks for protecting Ruby." Yang thanked the Blade who couldn't hear her. "He might not be as bad as I thought."

" **Okay." Ruby shouted before bouncing up an almost comically throwing the scythe at Roze who easily caught it.**

"That didn't seem safe." Weiss said.

"Who care about that? We know get to see how Roze fights now." Ruby was excited to see him in action outside of his support abilities.

 **Meanwhile, Russel dashed at the rose themed Blade in terror. His aura was still at around 40 percent, but that didn't do anything to ease the growing fear. Of this guy's insane abilities.**

"You should just forfeit, Russel." Jaune said. He did not like him for supporting Cardin, but Russel has a chance to face a less severe punishment.

 **Roze twirled the scythe around expertly while giving Russel a savage grin. "Now then." Was the last thing Russel heard before Roze disappeared from view. But before Russel could even think about what was going on, the first strike connected to him. And then another… and another… and another…**

 **From the audience perspective, Roze was practically teleporting around Russel with each strike that connected. Spreading fear and awe among the audience, especially Cardin, who had frozen at the display. And Ruby had her mouth wide open.**

 **Then at the end of what looked like thousands of strikes, Roze returned to where he started from. Then, two words left his lips. Words that echoed in the now silent arena louder than a megaphone. "Ravaging Rose." And then an explosion of rose petals came out of every spot on Russel's body that was struck as if countless wounds opened up in his body. And then mohawked first year collapsed into the field of rose petals that had somehow landed into a pattern of a large blooming rose.**

(OST end)

"That… was… AWESOME!" Ruby had never seen something like what she just saw and read.

"it such a unique and artistic sight." Weiss said from her amazement.

Everyone else was the same situation.

"I WANT A BLADE NOW! GIVE ME A CORE CRYSTAL SO…" Ruby came to a pause to her excitement before realizing something that made her frown "wait, Luck said there are no extra Core Crystals here."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Luck apologized.

"It's okay."

 **Aside from gasps that came from the torrent of petals, the arena had gone silent at the macabre, yet artistic display.**

" **That… was… AWESOME!" Screamed none other than Ruby, who instantly dashed to Roze's side with a light of a thousand stars in her eyes. "Howdidyoudothathowdidyoumovesofastwheredidthoserose-" Ruby was interrupted by a cookie being shoved into her mouth, which the girl started to chew.**

Ruby blushed from embarrassment. Her other almost exactly acted how she did.

Yang was starting to like this guy. She may be willing to forgive him for his misunderstood comments regarding her sister.

" **The fight is not over Ruby." Roze said seriously while pointing the scythe at Cardin who looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. "You still need to finish him." At those words, Roze offered the weapon to Ruby who took it with a grim determination.**

 **AS Ruby prepared herself once again to fight Cardin, the bully in question had tears in his eyes. "THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Cardin roared. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE FROM THE DEATH DUST, NOT COME BACK TO FURTHER MOCK OUR EXISTENCE!"**

"There's the confession we all been dying to hear." Yang said in a joyful tone. "Get ready to be put behind bars. If you didn't want this to happen then you shouldn't have attempted to kill Ruby."

" **What did he say?" a student exclaimed ay Cardin's words about dying from Death Dust, earning similar shouts from everyone else.**

" **THE HUNTSMEN ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT ALL OF HUMANITY AND ELIMINATE ANY AND ALL FREAKS THAT HAVE NO RIGHT TO LIVE AND PUT THOSE RABID ANIMALS IN THE KENNELS WHERE THEY BELONG! WHAT'S SO WRONG WITH THAT!? WHY THE HELL-" Cardin's increasingly tearful mad rant was interrupted by a shot from the blooming rose that revealed a gun barrel.**

"Good. I didn't need to hear the rest of that." Blake said. She was glad that Cardin is going to get what's coming to him.

"It must be hard to listen to that kind of talk about faunus, Blake." Penny said which put Blake on alert.

"How did you know?" Blake asked, frightened that her secret got out.

"When we first met, your bow was moving unnaturally. There was hardly any wind." Penny explained.

"Oh great." Then Blake's eyes widened as she turned to team JNPR. She already figured that Beacon staff knew she was a faunus.

"We just found out." Jaune conveniently lied.

"You're our friend Blake. Just because you're a faunus doesn't mean we will think any less of you." Pyrrha said.

Blake smiled. "Thanks."

" **Shut up." Ruby said, sounding sad instead of angry. "Faunus are people just as much as you or me. As a huntress in training, it's my duty to defend those who can't defend themselves." The 15 year old reaper said with a lone tear. "What I can't understand is how anyone can be such a... meanie that hurts others for fun."**

" **SHUT THE HELL UP YOU DUMB-" Another shot cut Cardin off, this one aimed for his shoulder, which took a large chunk of his aura.**

" **Stop! Just stop." Ruby said with tears flowing freely. "You were ready to kill me just because you didn't like me." Another shot which took more of Cardin's aura, followed by gasps at Ruby's words. "You. Treatened. To kill my team." Three shots that finally broke Cardin's aura and more gasps. "You… you…" Ruby wanted to say more but instead, broke into tears. Before Ruby could fall down, she was wrapped into a pair of arms that pulled her into a comforting hug.**

"Well done, Ruby. You don't need to say anymore." Ozpin talked to the other Ruby which brought his student some comfort aside from her friends and weapon.

 **By now, Glynda had finally let the Vale police into the arena to arrest Cardin. "Cardin Winchester, you are under arrest for stealing highly volatile substance and attempted murder." One of the officers said as they put weakened Cardin into handcuffs.**

" **NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Cardin shouted as he struggled against the officers. "MY FATHER WILL GET YOU ALL FIRED! YOU HEAR ME!" the officers rolled their eyes at the statement. Cardin's father was one of the richest people in Vale and a member of the Council. Unfortunately for Cardin, his father is currently walking on thin ice with the law. Meaning that if one more rumor stained his reputation, the man might lose his seat. Although a Councilman's son attempting murder and stealing highly dangerous substance won't be a rumor, it will be fact.**

It took every ounce of strength from Yang, Jaune, and Nora to remain seated instead of getting up to pop off at Cardin's arrest.

 **As Cardin was dragged away, Russel, who was regaining consciousness was arrested for helping Cardin. However, he didn't struggle. He just allowed himself to be arrested quietly.**

" **That Russel at least regrets his actions." Roze whispered to a crying Ruby. "Perhaps is a different person was his leader, he could have been a better person."**

 **Ruby didn't answer. But she just hugged harder. Even as her team approached them to support their leader.**

"Good riddance." Weiss said, happy to see the end of a version of Cardin.

"I do feel kind of bad for Russel." Ruby said.

"But he assisted in killing you." Yang reminded her.

"I know, but there is the possibility that he could be a different person if someone else was his leader." Ruby replied.

"There is no guarantee that he would be a different person with a change in leadership."

"I know. Now there only one chapter left."

* * *

 **"I think I put in a Torna reference in this chapter? I bought the DLC way before the release. When it came out, I only played about 10% of the game. I didn't watch videos either so I don't know much about Torna.**

 **The reaction for Ruby and Yang possibly having a brother is based on my relationship with my brothers. I am the youngest so I got to do most of the work. The eldest delegate tasks to the younger. If something goes wrong we blame the middle child except for certain situation when know we cause a problem and we got witnesses.**


	4. Prologue 1-3

**Merry (late) Christmas.**

 **Yes, 'late' is in parenthesis since people live in various parts of the world.**

 **Think I figured out how to play as Sheik in Smash. Speaking of Smash, I initial thought of doing a Smash x RWBY fic, but chose Castlevania over it. It would have been another reaction type fic where Ruby got in Smash. That was before the Game Awards and the release of the game plus I was scared of the Nintendo ninjas coming for me for a possible correct guess with no way to back it up. Yes, I prefer Ruby over Goku, but I don't need either one since we got Joker. I also got the Belmonts and my boy Roy.**

 **Saw Aquaman today and it made me like the character for the first time. I recommend watching the movie when anyone gets the chance.**

* * *

"I can say that you are through the worst of your prologue."

Ruby agreed with Luck as she read her final chapter.

 **Explanations and Revelations**

"We may get a recap of what Luck told us and possibly new information." Ren hypothesized from the title.

"A rather accurate assumption Mr. Ren." Oobleck agreed.

 **Some time after Cardin's arrest, team RWBY and Roze found themselves in Ozpin's office. The headmaster called them over.**

" **Are we in trouble?" Was the first question that Ruby asked, still mildly shaken from her outburst. Thankfully being in Yang's one armed comfort hug helped a lot.**

"I doubt it. Only 'some time' has passed. We don't have a definitive time interval, so we can assume it's still the same day of the arrest. My other must have found some revelations regarding Mr. Roze." Ozpin deduced.

 **The headmaster smiled at the question. "Of course not. Mr. Winchester practically confessed his attempted murder, so the matter is settled as far as I'm concerned." Then Ozpin shifted his gaze to Roze. "However, what I'm about to discuss is about Mr. Roze here. It seems… that at least the part about him being born from the Death Dust-."**

" **Core Crystal." Roze corrected, "And I was awakened, not born."**

"True, but I think we can maybe stress the term 'born' a bit." Jaune said.

"Why is that, Mr. Arc?" Oobleck wanted further details on his student's line of thought.

"Well, uh…" Jaune tried to recall something from earlier, "Roze's appearance was influenced by genetic code Ruby provided after touching the Core Crystal." Jaune said.

"Are you suggesting that if I wasn't for Ruby's genetic code that Roze may not be who he currently is and may have been a completely different Blade." Oobleck asked his student. Jaune nodded in confirmation which brough a small smile to the doctor's face. "If only you can bring your attention to class more, Mr. Arc.

Jaune laughed nervously while scratching the back of his head.

 **Weiss scowled at the headmaster being interrupted, but decided to not comment on it. She wanted to know how Ozpin came to that conclusion.**

" **Right." Ozpin said, before continuing. "The part about him being awaked from the Core Crystal seems to be true at least."**

" **And why is that?" Blake asked.**

 **At those words, a holographic screen appeared in front of his desk. "Take a look at this surveillance footage." Ozpin said as the footage in question started playing.**

"Wait. You have direct access to the security cameras within Beacon and most likely the Emerald Forest?" Jaune asked the headmaster.

"Yes, I have direct access to most resources from various departments in Beacon from my office." Ozpin confirmed.

While there a few noticeable incidents that occurred during the first semester, there was one incident in particular that Jaune thought of which made fear of his false entrance to Beacon being found out.

"Only the most serious matters concern me. I leave the rest to the respective departments." Ozpin's standard for serious is different from what people would expect.

Several seconds had passed. It didn't seem like Ozpin would bring up the false transcripts, not that Jaune wanted them to be brought up. He was willing to take Ozpins silence as a pass for his forgery… for now. Jaune won't bring it up with the headmaster.

 **First the girls saw an empty hallway, wondering what they're supposed to be seeing. That is, until Ruby appears on the footage with her back turned to the camera.**

 **Yang hugged Ruby with both arms, fearing what this footage may show. And sure enough, it showed Russel and Cardin attacking her. At the sight of Ruby struggling, Yang wished she could still smash Cardin's face in.**

"And there is the evidence that was supposed to be nonexistent." Yang said. "I'm still gonna beat Cardin regardless if he is aware about this alternate reality."

 **Blake looked horrified at Cardin looking proud when he managed to get Ruby's hand on the Dea- Core Crystal.**

 **Weiss… she was reminded of her first few days at Beacon. Actually wishing Ruby gone, even going so far as wishing for her death. That made the Schnee heiress sick to her stomach now. The thought of wishing someone's death for even an instant.**

"Ruby, I want to let you know that I'm glad to have as team leader and as a… friend." Weiss said the last part with a bit of hesitation. It's only been one semester and she is not familiar with using the term.

"Thanks Weiss."

 **Ruby herself… she did feel a weight at the memories of last night. And yet, for some reason… she didn't feel scared.**

"The incident passed and now we get to see Roze's entrance." Penny said.

 **And then the footage showed it. The Core Crystal flashed and there was a light in the vague shape of a person standing over Ruby. Then the light faded, revealing Roze, who looked around the hallway before craning his hood covered head at the sight of the unconscious Ruby.**

"Maybe from a Blade's perspective it's unusual to see their Driver unconscious upon awakening?" Penny suggested from the awakening scene.

"You are right." Luck confirmed. "Perhaps it has to do with a Core Crystals reaction to a new element known as aura?"

"Are you saying that aura doesn't exist in your world? What about other worlds?" Oobleck asked for the worldly differences.

"I can say that aura doesn't exist in Alrest. As for other worlds, I can only speak for one but not the others. However, aura in other may not work the same way as aura in your world." Luck answered.

"How exactly do you know that aura exist in another world aside from our respective worlds?" Oobleck further inquired.

"Klaus made mention of a new world he created through the use of the Conduit, correct?" Oobleck nodded in confirmation. "The other half of Klaus's body is located in the created world and aura exist in that world. You can say that both halves of Klaus are still connected."

"You weren't awakened yet when Klaus gave his explanation, so how to you know of that?"

"It's one of my skills known as 'Architect's Knowledge'. Whatever knowledge Klaus has I also have."

"I see. That will prove to be very interesting." Oobleck put a pause on his questions so everyone can progress with the viewing.

 **That was when Ozpin stopped the footage. "Assuming what Mr. Roze said is the truth, this is the moment of his 'awakening'," the headmaster told the four girls who were processing the information, "And the lack of the Crystal in the footage supports his claim." Indeed, the crystal in Ruby's hand had vanished.**

" **NO!" Weiss screeched, "There has to be a different explanation."**

" **But Weiss, how did he appear there?" Blake asked, trying to think of anything that would disprove Roze's claims but she found none. If he used a semblance to appear there, then what were the other abilities he displayed in the arena?**

" **He must've used a semblance." Weiss quickly said, still refusing to believe it.**

" **Then what were the other abilities that he used?" Yang asked the same question Blake had thought of.**

Weiss frowned at her other's desperate attempts to find another reason for the Blade's entrance in Beacon. To be honest, she wanted to do the same thing, but something in the back of her head told her that seeing Blade awakening may happen a few more times in this viewing. That's not including the effects of the world merger.

" **That's… that's," Weiss stammered.**

" **What kind of school doesn't teach common knowledge?" Roze asked in annoyance from Ozpin.**

 **That made the headmaster raise an eyebrow. "What do you mean by common knowledge?"**

"Now we see a clash of knowledge from two people of different worlds." Ren said.

 **This kind of response irritated the Blade. "About Blades and Drivers. We have existed alongside you since the Architect created all life."**

" **An architect created life? Come on." Weiss snorted in irritation, while Ozpin raised another eyebrow.**

"Given my knowledge of his feats and the evidence presented to you all, the title of 'Architect' is rather appropriate." Luck said.

 **Judging by the look of fury on Roze's face, that was the wrong thing to say. "You deny the Architect, who created all life on Alrest? What kind backwater Titan produced a mindless imbecile like you!?"**

" **EX** CU **SE M** E **!?"**

Sure, everyone from Remnant are just learning about new concepts that will eventually become common when they return. However, she won't let anyone get away with insulting her.

"Something like this is bound to happen Ms. Schnee. I suggest you let your anger subside and remain seated." Ozpin told her.

Weiss didn't like the command, but she obey Ozpin's command. Hopefully this would be the only time she sees herself being disrespected.

 **Weiss's screech scared Ruby a little. The red reaper hadn't seen Weiss this furious, unless she tried to bail out on school work.**

"Believe me when I say that this is a worse reaction compared to you skipping school work." Weiss told Ruby, still fuming from the insult towards her.

 **Blake stifled a laugh at someone having the guts to call Weiss an imbecile. The heiress was very proud of her intelligence and did not like anyone insulting it.**

 **Yang actually laughed at Roze getting after Weiss's skin faster than the blonde brawler ever did.**

Blake, Yang, and Nora laughed at the scene.

"I approve." Yang said through her laughter.

"QUIET ALL OF YOU!" Weiss shouted.

 **Before this could turn into a shouting match, Ozpin loudly said something that made Roze freeze in his tracks. "Our world is called Remnant."**

"I personally think Professor Ozpin should have said 'Order in the court.'" Nora said.

"I don't have the qualifications to be a judge Ms. Valkyrie." Ozpin denied again.

"… **What?" Was the intelligent question from the Blade.**

" **So I was right." Ozpin said. "You referred the world as Alrest. But as I said, our world is called Remnant." At the latter sentence, Ozpin pulled the map of Remnant on the holographic screen.**

"… **That's… a fake." Roze said, before pulling out his scythe and started shooting the screen, which made RWBY back away from him, while Ozpin ducked under the desk. "IT'S A FAKE!" Roze screamed as he kept shooting at the map that was wrong in every possible way. "Where are the Titans? Where is the Cloud Sea!? Where. Is. THE WORLD TREE!?"**

"WOAH!" Was the reaction from most of the viewers.

"That's just rude." Ozpin casually said.

"Sir, might I suggest you implement security defenses in your office?" Penny asked.

"There is no need to make my office similar to James."

 **During the shouting and shooting, the elevator opened, revealing Professor Goodwitch, who Ozpin had asked as a back up. The Professor acted quickly and flicked her riding crop to disarm Roze who turned to the offending woman. The rose themed Blade was ready to charge at the teacher, but…**

" **Roze! Stop!" Ruby shouted as she latched onto her Blades torso. "…Please." Ruby pleaded with her best puppy dog eyes.**

 **Roze looked into Ruby's pleading silver eyes before turning his head away. "… I'm… sorry Ruby." The Blade sounded ashamed. "That was… uncalled from me."**

"Ruby has spoken." Yang said. "Why is your second semblance so powerful?" Ruby's puppy dog eyes might as well be a secondary semblance.

"An advantage to being the youngest I guess." Ruby replied.

 **Everyone was surprised that Roze calmed down so easily, just because Ruby asked him to.**

 **Then Ozpin, who had inched out of his hiding spot, cleared his throat. "Have you calmed down?" The professor asked, reassessing his opinion of Roze not being a threat.**

"Just a misunderstanding." Ozpin said.

His students had an anime sweat drop moment at Ozpin's dismissal of the outburst.

"… **No… But Ruby is my Driver and regardless of the circumstances, I am her Blade." Roze said like it was a mantra of sorts. Then the Blade walked to pick up his dropped weapon, except goodwitch got in the way.**

" **I think it would be best if you weren't armed right now." Glynda said with a piercing look which could make any person wither.**

"I don't think that warning will work." Jaune said.

"Yeah. After all, we saw him directly insult Weiss with no hesitation." Said the blonde brawler.

Weiss didn't need to be reminded of that.

Luck knew that keeping Roze from his weapon wouldn't mean much.

 **But Roze is not just "any" person. Evidenced by the fact that he unceremoniously shoved Glynda to the side and picked up his scythe. Only to toss it to Ruby who barely caught it. "I think it's best that you hold onto it from now on." Roze said. All while ignoring Glynda who was seething in anger at being ignored so easily.**

"From now on, Roze is a legend." Yang commented.

"I'd gladly hold your weapon any day." Ruby said with a giddy smile.

 **Yang was not sure if she should consider Roze extremely brave or stupid for not respecting Glynda. Weiss, still furious about being called an imbecile, had hoped that Goodwitch would put this miscreant in his place. Blake… she was reminded of how Adam would disregard anything she said about human equality. The only difference was, Roze didn't threaten Glynda in any way.**

"Blake, who is Adam?" Ruby asked.

"Blake, remember what I told at the docks." Weiss reminded Blake of the incident focused around her.

Blake can bring herself to trust her team and friends. Penny and Oobleck were unknowns. For some reason, she felt like Ozpin would find out somehow. "He… was my partner in the White Fang. At first, I was convinced that he was fighting for a just cause, but over time his actions were proving him to fight for a different cause rather than what the White Fang has set out for. Then again, the White Fang has been different since the change in leadership."

"I suppose that would do for now. Thank you for telling us." Weiss said.

" **Do you disrespect all authority like that?" Glynda asked with venom in her voice, which made Ruby worry about Roze.**

 **The reaper of roses gave the teacher a confused look. "You were in my way, I moved you. It's that simple."**

 **Before the Goodwitch turned into a very angry witch, Ozpin cleared his throat again. "As much as I would like to correct Mr. Roze's… slight, I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to." Then the headmaster fixed Roze with an inquisitive look. "Could you explain what exactly are Blades and Drivers?"**

 **Roze gave the headmaster his full attention. "… Very well, seeing as this will be educational to Ruby," the rose reaper said as he gave said Driver a quick glance, "Let's start with Blades, we come in many shapes and sizes. Each of us have a weapon that we can use ourselves or give it to our Drivers. The one thing all Blades have in common are our Core Crystals." At the last part Roze revealed his Core Crystal to everyone. "Although the shape of the Crystal may vary from Blade to Blade."**

"Why do Blades toss their weapon to their Driver? Wouldn't be better for both to have their own weapon?" Ruby asked.

"It dangerous, not to mention that it's not as effective as when both partners have a weapon." Pyrrha added.

"Drivers having their own weapon to fight alongside their Blade used to be the norm. That practice is not obsolete yet." Luck answered. "Being able to pass a shared weapon opens up the possibility to more tactical mix ups. When a Blade is not wielding their weapon, they can focus on defense and support their Driver with their skills. When a Blade has their weapon, they will be able to use their more powerful abilities. Your attention may be more focused on the person wielding a weapon."

"I suppose that is true. Why did the practice come to be?" Pyrrha asked.

Luck chuckled a bit. "The practice came to be from a certain Driver and Blade pair. They were poor and had difficulty purchasing food, let alone another weapon. What they couldn't afford they made up by harvesting from the wild and making the necessary supplies. Of course, they didn't have to do that all the time."

The practice itself does seem to be useful. The Remnant crew even saw it in the previous chapter. The reason why the practice came into existence was a bit humorous to them.

" **May vary?" Ozpin queried.**

" **I have yet to meet any other Blades." Roze admitted, before looking hesitantly at Ruby. "Now, once a Driver had awakened a Blade, they will be bonded for the rest of the Driver's life."**

Everyone's universal thought about the Blade saying he belong to Ruby was 'so that's what he meant.' Some of the students felt stupid for dropping the gun on the statement being a proposal.

 **Though that did raise a question to Ruby. "But when I die… What happens to you?"**

 **Roze had a sad look. "When the Driver dies the Blade will revert to their Core Crystal, so that a new Driver can resonate with them."**

Yang hugged her sister. "There is no way you're going to die early."

"There are other ways to remove a Blade from a Driver." Luck informed everyone, gaining their attention.

"Unlike my other, I'm already okay with Roze."

"Can you elaborate on one if not all methods to remove a Blade?" Ren asked.

"You would need an item called an 'overdrive protocol'. It with forcibly change a Blade's bonded Driver to another without having the Blade return to a dormant Core Crystal. Unfortunately, none of those are here."

"Do you know how they are made?" Penny asked Luck.

"No." Came the short response.

 **That made Yang worry a little. This meant that the only way to truly get rid of this guy was to kill Ruby.**

" **So, " Blake asked unsurely, "How many Drivers have you had?" It was a fair question. After all, the way Roze spoke made it seem like Blades were around for a loooong time.**

"… **I don't know." Roze replied simply.**

What?

" **What?" Came the incredulous question from Weiss. "How can you knot know?" She wasn't entirely convinced about this stuff, but she was still curious.**

" **Because when a new Driver resonates with a Core Crystal, all memories the Blade had about their previous life is erased." Roze explained like nothing was wrong with it. "To answer Blake's question, hundreds? Maybe thousands? For all I know, Ruby could be my first Driver."**

"The last one is most likely true." Penny stated from all previous speculation.

"It must be hard, forgetting all your previous relationships and experiences." Pyrrha said with a hint of sadness.

"True, but there may also be thing you may want to forget. For all a Blades could know, they could have been wanted criminals at one point which could have most likely been an influenced choice by their Driver." Luck said before going into a possible situation. "Imagine a Blade reverts to their Core Crystal and is reawakened. The Blade is unaware of their previous life like the Driver. You walk around cities where people accuse you of crimes that you don't know you've committed in the past without knowing how or why. Yet, others may recall your actions in a previous life, negative or positive." Luck explained. "The gimmick of forgetting can either be viewed as a blessing or a curse." He concluded.

That got everyone thinking about their own standing on the ability to forget, especially for Blades.

A certain doctor thought that being forced to forget about the past means not being able to learn from it and thus destined to repeat it. That leave the only being a Blade could turn to for any recollection would be their Driver, whoever they may be.

" **Wait a second." Glynda interrupted. "If you are basically a blank slate now… then how do you know these things? Wouldn't you forget those too?"**

"Think of when you first got your scrolls. They come with certain applications, instructions, and other data built in correct?" Luck asked everyone who either nodded or said 'yes'. "When Blades are awakene, they appear with specific knowledge of their world, Alrest. Some Blades may have skills that grant them additional knowledge like myself." Luck explained.

"Wait," Penny called out "If one of your skills grants you the same knowledge as Klaus then would you be able to remember him as your Driver?"

"… I don't know, maybe." That would an interesting thing to find out.

 **Roze stared blankly at the professor. "… I don't know."**

" **How can you not know how you know?" Weiss asked, once again, questioning the whole thing.**

" **I don't know." Roze replied simply.**

" **How can that be?" Blake asked this time.**

" **I don't KNOW." Roze said in a more irritated tone. "I don't know why I just know. I just… know."**

"I think you should back off from that line of questioning." Jaune said to team RWBY who agreed.

 **This information earned mixed reaction. For Blake, she tried living countless lives and not remembering any of them… She felt a pang of pity at this being who could've lived for thousands of years for all they knew.**

 **Weiss… couldn't imagine it, on one hand this man is basically immortal if his lifespan is as he says. On the other hand, he won't remember any of the lives he had before this one so… is it really immortality?**

 **Ruby looked like she wanted to cry. The thought of forgetting everyone you loved was a sad and terrifying one.**

Ozpin was familiar with the concept of immortality. True immortality is not a thing. His own form of immortality is reincarnation. His new life will inherit the spirit and memories of his previous lives. Salem's form of immortality is a curse which could be lifted by meeting a certain condition. However, that condition will never be met so she might as well be a true immortal. If those experiences are anything to go by, then Klaus and Blades have their own form of immortality. Klaus did mention that he will not last for very long which means that someone somehow exploited his form of immortality.

" **How can you be so non-chalant about it?" Yang asked, angry at Roze's attitude to the whole thing. "You could've had people important to you and you just forgot about them!?"**

"Going along the thought of forgetting to be a curse, it's a bad thing. But sometimes bad things just happen regardless you have control of the situation or not." Luck told Yang.

Bad things just happen. Control or no control. The one thing she could think of was her loss of two mothers even though she barely knew one of them.

" **And what getting emotional about it changes… what." Roze stated with cold logic. "It's simply how Blades are."**

" **But you were pretty emotional when you saw the map of Remnant." Ozpin pointed out. "Though back to the topic at hand…" Ozpin pulled a video feed of the fight with Cardin. "Could you explain this link you had with Miss Rose?"**

" **That's just me supplying power to her." Roze explained. "It also attunes our emotions. And I must say, Ruby is very fun." At the latter sentence, Roze gave Ruby a smile. Which the young reaper returned awkwardly.**

Ruby also gave an awkward smile.

"So it was a power up of some kind." Jaune said.

"… **Right." Ozpin muttered while ignoring a venomous glare the Blade was receiving from Yang who clearly didn't like the way Roze said that. "Anyway, what about that move you used?" The footage now showed Roze's attack on Russel.**

 **Roze smiled at the memory, "Ravaging Rose. One of my Special Arts."**

" **Special Arts." Yang said skeptically.**

"Kind of sounds like a super move in fighting games or RPGs." Ruby said while getting a nod of approval from Yang and Jaune.

" **There as for levels to my Special Arts. Ravaging Rose is level three, the second strongest." Roze said with what sounded like disappointment. "Although maybe I should've settled for Crescent Bloom. Or even Petal Blast."**

"Rose theme intensifies." Nora said which did embarrass Ruby.

"I take it that the other two Special Arts he listed would be his level one and two respectively or vice versa." Ren said.

 **None of the people in the room knew what those moves were, but Ozpin wasn't keen on finding that out. Instead, "I noticed that you could hold your own, so why bother being Miss Rose's Blade?"**

"A valid question. Blades seems to be sentient beings so why would they tie themselves to their Drivers?" Ozpin asked.

"Continue reading Ruby." Luck told her.

 **When the gang thought about it, he was able to avoid Yang's attacks, create barriers, and even take out Russel with what was basically a super move.**

" **Because only my Driver can draw out my full power." Roze explained. "I can fight on my own if I must, but I won't be as powerful as I be with Ruby." At the mention of Ruby, the Blade gave a faint smile to his Driver, which made the girl blush at what sounded like a compliment.**

Ruby did the same.

"You all seem like trained warriors or at least warriors in training." Luck said.

"As huntsmen and huntresses, we must train our ability to protect the people of Remnant from opposing forces and themselves." Ozpin replied. "How powerful would a Blade be when separated from their Driver and compared to us?"

"You and the Doctor seem to be seasoned warriors, so I will have to put you high on the spectrum for official huntsmen. Depending on the Blade, at best, they could be as strong as the above average huntsmen or slightly weaker." Luck answered. "If you want to explore a Blade's potential then you have to build up trust. Trust can be built in numerous ways which would be winning battles, completing mission, living life, collecting things, having particular conversations, or other things. Some of these options may be specified. Doing these things will enhance a Blade's skills. Some boost will come fast while others could take a while." Luck explained.

"Interesting." Oobleck said. That could be a useful reference point.

 **The headmaster nodded at the information. "how powerful would you say you are among Blades, Mr. Roze?" Ozpin then asked.**

 **Now that was a question that made RWBY, especially Ruby, curious.**

 **Roze had a thoughtful expression on his face, before he frowned. "I honestly don't know. I know I'm not a Common Blade, but… I'm not sure how strong I would be compared to others like me." The Blade said carefully.**

" **Others like you?" Weiss questioned. "And what do you mean by Common Blade?"**

" **I'm afraid I can't explain a Common Blade, but those like me… some Blades look more human than others." Roze said simply earning an interesting look from Blake.**

"Could you go into more detail about Common Blades and Blades like you?" Blake asked Luck.

"Common Blade are like generic constructs. Although some don't necessarily like to be referred to as a Common Blade. It can divide Blades." Luck fiddled with the terminal on his device to display various images of Common Blades, various shapes, sizes, and gender on the screens. "Then there are Rare Blades like me and Roze. He is correct that some Blades like us have a more human appearance to whatever extent. However, there are some Rare Blades that don't look human in any way." Luck showed a few Rare Blades on the screen with their names. Boreas, Finch, and Aegeon." These are a few Rare Blades that don't look human but have their own unique look and personalities. Aegeon, however, get the most flak since he looks like a Common Blade, but acts like a butler or steward."

Blade appearances seems like something to look forward to… or to possibly dread.

" **What do you mean by looking 'more human than others'?" the said faunus asked.**

"… **Just what I said. Some Blades look more human than others… Though I don't know to what extent." Roze replied with a shrug.**

" **Interesting." Ozpin mused as he was secretly taking notes. "Now, for my next question. What does it take to be a Driver?" The headmaster asked, earning a confused look from Roze.**

"… **I don't understand the question." Roze replied, once again surprising everyone by not understanding the weirdest things.**

"Don't ask me. I'm just going to be lazy and let the story tell you all." Luck waved off their concerns.

" **He means," Ruby started, looking for the words, "Is there something you must do to become a Driver?"**

 **Roze had a miffed look. "You need to resonate with a Core Crystal. I told you that before."**

" **That's not what I meant." Ruby said, now getting annoyed herself.**

 **Glynda sighed at this exchange, before trying herself. "Is there a way to know if you are a Driver without resonating with a Core Crystal?" the disciplinarian professor asked, hoping that she got her point across.**

"… **No. the only way is to resonate with a Core Crystal. You either can or can't. No ifs. No buts. No second chances." Roze responded, emphasizing each point.**

" **In other words, Miss Rose was just lucky to have the aptitude." Ozpin summarized, understanding that you either are a Driver or you're not. That meant that the risk of being rejected by a Core Crystal will always be there, no matter who you are.**

Ruby was happy that her other got lucky with the Core Crystal, but she feared for everyone else who would try. It's a fixed fifty - fifty outcome.

"Your bloodline, heritage, and feats mean nothing. It's a simple yes or no to the question 'do you have the aptitude to be a Driver'. I must reiterate, if any of your others are able to awaken a Blade that doesn't mean you will be able to awaken one." Luck told them.

There may not be any Core Crystals in their location, but that did put varying amounts of fear in the viewers. They may find out whenever they get back to Remnant.

 **Roze nodded at the summary.**

"… **I see." Ozpin finished, satisfied with the answers. "But this still leaves one problem for Mr. Roze's stay."**

 **That made Ruby worried, Yang almost estatic, and Weiss and Blake unsure of what to think.**

"He better not be put in our dorm." Wiess complained.

"I sure he won't try anything if he's anything like Ruby." Blake said.

"But-" "Relax Weiss. I sure everything would be fine." Pyrrha interrupted Weiss. "Just look at my team. We've handled our situation just fine."

Team JNPR never had a problem with living together.

"… I suppose I can tolerate it." Weiss conceded.

" **He will have to stay in your dorm until a more permanent residence is figured out." Ozpoin said, surprising team RWBY while Roze showed no reaction.**

" **Professor Ozpin, I'm not letting this weirdo sleep in our dorm." Yang argued heatedly**

" **Plus, he's a guy." Weiss agreed, less for Ruby's innocence and more for the fact that she doesn't like Roze right now.**

" **Jaune and Ren are guys, and they sleep in the same dorm with Pyrrha and Nora." Blake pointed out, earning a look of shocked betrayal from WY.**

"Just set some house rules and you'll be fine." Jaune said. "I think it's part of the reason why Ren and Nora trust each so much and that trust is extended to me and Pyrrha."

" **Plus, he's not a bad person." Ruby said, despite his odd attitude towards some things. Then she quickly turned to Ozpin. "Was there anything else, Professor?"**

 **Ozpin recognized an attempt to bail out when he saw one. "No. That is all." But that doesn't mean he has to stop it.**

"Professor Ozpin, why would you seek an opportunity to leave this discussion?" Weiss asked.

Ozpin and Oobleck came to the same conclusion, but only Ozpin voiced it. "Perhaps… there may be more to Oobleck's investigation on these Core Crystals."

" **Okay. Let's go team." Ruby declared, before grabbing Roze's hand and practically dragging him to the elevator.**

 **the rose themed Blade didn't struggle or even grunt in disapproval. "I can walk by myself." That dead pan remark was the closest thing to a protest Roze gave as the rest of the team followed suit with Yang and Weiss voicing their disapproval.**

 **As soon as the elevator left, Glynda turned to her boss. "Ozpin, what are you thinking?" Glynda asked in annoyance she had been bottling up. "You can't seriously take everything he says at face value!"**

"To be honest Ozpin, you should question these things more. It's an entire wealth of knowledge." Oobleck told Ozpin.

Ozpin didn't react.

" **I'm not." Ozpin responded with a sigh. "However, him being from another world might explain some things."**

" **Another world? When did he claim that?" Glynda asked, now questioning Ozpin's judgement further.**

 **The headmaster got off his seat, before marching to the elevator. "Not so much as 'claimed.' As had a breakdown about Remnant not existing, as you saw when you entered." Ozpin explained while motioning Glynda to follow.**

 **The professor did that grudgingly. "I simply thought he was aiming for your life." Glynda grumbled as she entered the elevator.**

"No, he was just aiming at the map." Ozpin commented.

 **That earned a chuckle. "I admit, he was out of line, but it seems like he won't act without Miss Rose's approval." Ozpin said as he used a hidden panel that only a select few know about.**

Anyone who was not Ozpin now knows about the panel. The only form of security it seems to have is that it's just hidden, no code required.

'I should add more security to that panel.' Ozpin thought. "Students, there are security cameras in the elevators, so I suggest you refrain from that panel.

Ozpin never mentioned any kind of punishment, but the students assumed it.

" **And what makes you say that?" Glynda asked. Still skeptical about the strange man that claimed to be… something that isn't human.**

" **You saw how he stopped when Miss Rose told him to. Besides, from the way I see it, Roze has his Driver's interest at heart. But onto other matters, do you know how many 'Death Dust' crystals Bart managed to find?" Ozpin asked as the elevator moved.**

" **Just the one that Roze supposedly awakened from, why?" Glynda replied now having a questioning look.**

" **Roze's Crystal wasn't the only." Ozpin said in a grave tone.**

" **What?" Glynda asked in concern as the elevator reached a floor beneath the ground floor.**

So Oobleck discovered more than one Crystal. Great news. Now his other could study a dormant Crystal and an active Blade. The paper cuts his other was said to get from the Core Crystal may not have been enough of a reaction, but it still counts as a rejection.

Everyone came to the conclusion that four prologues wouldn't exist if there was only one Core Crystal.

" **Follow me." Ozpin said as he stepped out of the elevator and in a secret vault.**

"Why do you have a secret vault Professor Ozpin?" Ruby asked for all the students.

Ozpin couldn't just casually reveal any major secrets. "To store a treasure of sorts."

"Oooohhh!" Ruby and Nora were now interested.

"What are your valuables and how much?" Nora asked.

"I'm afraid there is no monetary value in my treasure. Now, I do believe that we should continue."

 **Glynda followed suit. "How many are we talking about? She asked, now with concern. "Why wasn't I informed about this?"**

 **Ozpin gave his assistant an apologetic look. "Because you are already busy with all the other duties that come with being my assistant. I didn't want to burden you with this." Ozpin said as the two walked further in. Then the headmaster looked to a particular spot next to two pods. "And here we are." Ozpin said as he pointed at a small chest to the side. The headmaster took a key that was around his neck and opened the chest.**

"What's with the pods?" Pyrrha asked

"Personal life support." Came Ozpin's short answer. He didn't go into further detail.

 **Glynda couldn't believe it. In that chest were several Crystals like the one Roze came out of. "How?" Was the only question Glynda had.**

" **According to our dear doctor, a hole opened in the sky that rained these around the ruins he was excavating." Ozpin explained before closing the chest and locking it. "If what Roze says is true, we could have new weapons against** _ **her**_ **." Ozpin then said as he hid the key into his clothes.**

"A hole opening up in the sky is completely unnatural phenomenon." I doubt that Klaus, if he exists this this other reality, caused those fissures." Penny pointed out the first part." Professor Ozpin, who is this figure you are referring to?" She questioned the second part.

"… She an acquaintance of mine. Due to unforeseen circumstances between the two of us, our relationship turned for the worse. She blames me for her misfortune and is currently out to get me." Ozpin let out a fraction of the information he knew. He knows that it may not appease everyone. "She is not of your concern."

There was a bit of truth in his answer, but no one completely bought it. Yet, they dropped the subject with Ozpin.

"Luck, do you know anything?" Pyrrha asked the Blade.

"I only have whatever knowledge that is provided to me by Klaus or this story. I don't know too much." Luck answered.

"How did Klaus get information on our world if he never lived in it?" Ruby asked.

"The Conduit." Luck answered simply.

 **Glynda, however, frowned at the same though Ozpin must've had. Otherwise the headmaster would've been more ecstatic at having a new force to fight against** _ **her**_ **. "You're worried about the students might be rejected." Glynda said in an understanding tone. "Are we really that desperate?"**

"Professor Goodwitchis in Ozpin's inner circle." Oobleck said.

"Huntsmen and huntresses can be view as a fighting force, especially in Atlas. But as a fighting force for a specific person like a private army? That could go both ways." Penny explained.

Trust in Ozpin has dipped down a bit.

 **Ozpin thought for a while. "… No we are not. Still, the wounds inflicted on Bart's team varied, so if we do go through with this, we need to make sure that we have at least paramedics prepared."**

The students gulped in slight fear and anticipation.

" **That is true." Glynda said, but she still wasn't exactly thrilled about it.**

" **There is one more thing you should know though." Ozpin then told Glynda.**

" **What is it this time?" the professor didn't like any more surprises.**

" **One more thing that supports Roze's claims." Ozpin replied as he made a call on his scroll. Once the call connected, a disheveled mop of green hair that identified the person as Bartholomew Oobleck, Beacon's history teacher, and part time archeologist.**

"You're an archeologist, Doctor Oobleck?" Penny asked.

"Indeed. Only part time, but it's more like a hobby of mine. I do sometimes implement my findings in class."

" _ **aah! Ozpin, to what do I owe the pleasure?**_ **" The eccentric history teacher asked with his usual fast speech.**

" **Hello, Bart. Can you get Miss Adenine on the Scroll. I believe it's time to introduce her to Glynda." Ozpin earning a raised eyebrow from the professor in question.**

"Doctor, " Oobleck corrected the story, "and I must say that I was under the impression that we might have new Beacon staff in this reality, at least with the first part of the line. It would be nice to have another associate, but if Glynda doesn't know her then…" It took a moment for Oobleck to come to this realization. "I must have a Blade of my own." Oobleck concluded.

"So the papercut thing was a cover up?" Jaune asked.

"Precisely, Mr. Arc. My other made a new discovery and was the first to awaken a Blade. There is no logical explanation that I could have come up with on the first day to explain a new existance. I can understand why my other self and Ozpin's other would hid that information. We most likely would have done the same." Oobleck explained.

 **Oobleck frown at the words. "** _ **Are you sure that is wise? I mean… you told me we should keep her a secret."**_

" **Situation has changed." Ozpin said seriously. "I'm afraid we can't keep this secret much longer."**

 **A moment of silence from Oobleck's end before he turned himself away from the screen. "** _ **ADENINE! OZPIN WANTS TO TALK TO YOU!"**_

"You could have just called her over normally." Blake commented. Ooblecks volume shouldn't be necessary. He could be in his classroom or office. Speaking of which, has anyone ever seen his office? None to her knowledge.

 **Glynda winced at the volume the eccentric history teacher used… again, but that isn't what surprised her. "** _ **Coming Bart!"**_ **It was the female voice that was barely audible as if far away that surprised the professor. As far as Glynda knew, Oobleck is far to engrossed in his work to have any friends outside of staff, much less female friends. However, soon enough Glynda could see it. A woman with short green… or maybe aqua hair appeared on the screen. "** _ **Hello professor, what did you wish to talk about?"**_ **The woman that was possibly Adenine asked.**

"Turquoise is the color." Oobleck clarified.

"You must be lonely. No friends outside of Beacon staff." Penny felt sorry for Oobleck.

"Fret not, Beacon staff, books, and artifacts are enough to keep me company. I do suppose that Glynda and maybe Professor Peach view me as more of an acquaintance and colleague rather than a friend. I assume my Blade would provide company more often than those two." Oobleck said.

" **I thought I would introduce you to Glynda, my assistant." Ozpin replied as he handed over his scroll to Glynda who grudgingly accepted.**

 **At first the only thing Glynda really took note of this woman was the metal shoulder pads that seemed to have a glowing center. Then her eyebrow raised as she saw what looked like a wide belt strapped across Adenine's small bust. Then the professor's green eyes widened as she saw something sticking out of the woman's chest, right above the belt. A glowing blue crystal. "** _ **Hello Glynda! I am Adenine."**_ **Adenine introduced herself while bringing one of her gauntlet covered hands to wave on the screen.**

" _ **Is that a book around her wrist!?"**_ **Glynda couldn't help wondering at the sight of a book that looked like someone carved a hole on the cover and had put it around Adenine's wrist. "… Are you a Blade?" Glynda couldn't help asking.**

"In case you are wondering, yes, she does have books on her wrist from her awakening." Luck answered a possible question that didn't come up.

"What's her weapon?" The weapon nut excitedly asked.

"Knuckle Claws, but I don't think that weapon type matches Doctor Oobleck." Luck answered.

"I may be an excellent huntsman in my own right, but I am in no means a frontline fighter."

"Maybe her claws are in the form of books? She could be the embodiment of the phrase 'knowledge is power.'" Nora said.

Oobleck can agree with that phrase, but now he may see it taken to a more literal sense.

 **Adenine smiled on a screen. "** _ **Oh, so you know about already? Indeed I am, and I must say, having a Driver like Bart is a dream come true."**_ **The dreamy look Adenine had on her face unnerved Glynda.**

 _*insert record scratch noise here*_

NANI!?

 **Never in her life had Glynda thought someone would make a face like that when talking about Oobleck.**

"Oh dear." Oobleck was getting worried for what might happen to him.

No one thought it to be possible, but Oobleck got flustered at that statement from his Blade. Goodwitch's reaction didn't help. Only thing harder would be putting Glynda in a similar situation.

The Beacon students now got hard teasing material to use against Oobleck.

"So Doc, I see you got a new 'friend'. Care to introduce us?" Yang had a playful smile.

"You are still a rather young bachelor at the age of 30. I am happy you have found a significant other." Ozpin joined in.

Oobleck was starting to sweat a little. He pulled out a handkerchief to first wipe his glasses clean before wiping the sweat off his head.

" _ **Ahem, yes. It is quite lucky that I awakened someone so interested in history."**_ **Glynda heard Oobleck say sounding… dare she say it, flustered.**

"She may be a Blade, but she fancies herself as a scholar interested in known and unknown history. Since no Blade as any knowledge of Remnant, your world became a treasure trove of unknown knowledge for her. As an instructor and historian, you seem to be the ideal Driver for her." Luck decided to have a bit of fun. "Think of the knowledge you can provide as an unintentional way of wooing her."

Oobleck wanted this chapter to end, but he suspected that he is not getting away from this.

 **Not wanting to process any of this, Glynda cut the call before glaring at Ozpin. "So, what do you think of her?" Ozpin asked, despite having a feeling of what Glynda might say.**

"… **By the Dust, there's two of them now!" Was the first thing Glynda said while massaging the bridge of her nose to quell an incoming headache.**

"We'll go with that, female Oobleck!" Nora announced to further embarrass her teacher.

" **Funny, that's exactly what I said." Ozpin replied, seeing where Glynda was coming from. Although Adenine isn't as… hyperactive as Oobleck, she still goes on a rant about the importance of history and knowledge. And** _ **especially**_ **books, if the rest of her appearance that** _ **wasn't**_ **shown to Glynda is any indication.**

"So she is not hyped up on coffee." Jaune said.

"What, is the rest of her body a made of books?" Blake asked. That would be an odd relationship, dating a literal book person.

Luck didn't confirm anything, but Blake's guess was close enough.

" **So… the story about Oobleck getting papercuts from a Crystal…," Glynda said, letting the sentence hang.**

" **A lie."Ozpin admitted. "Oobleck touched one of the Crystals with gloves on, thinking it would protect him. And you saw the result." Then the Professor had an unusually care-free smile, "I wonder if Blades and Drivers can get married."**

" **OZPIN!" Glynda finally snapped not needing the mental image of Oobleck in a wedding suit, carrying Adenine who was in a wedding dress looking at each other lovingly… "** _ **Damn it!"**_

Oobleck facepalmed at Glynda painting the very image she didn't want to picture.

"It's such a strange sight." The students said.

"The union between a man and woman is nothing strange… unless one of the two is a Blade." Oobleck is not sure is such a thing could happen. Marriage to a sentient, humanoid weapon.

Ozpin comes out of left field with another question to add on to his other. "Are Blades, humans, and faunus biologically compatible?"

"There have been records of humans marrying their Blades in the past. Are for whether or not they are biologically compatible… well…" Was Luck actually unsure about this despite having the knowledge of the Architect.

"Out with it man! What is the answer?" Oobleck asked or more like demanded.

"…"

This is definitely going to eat at Oobleck's mind.

 **That evening at the RWBY dorm, a furious blizzard was raging. A blizzard that is known as a very irritated Weiss Schnee. After reaching the dorm, the girls were talking about where Roze would sleep. None of the girls were willing to give up their beds. And somehow during this, Roze had occupied himself with Weiss's dust. But that' not why Weiss was angry. The reason she was angry was…**

" **THAT'S NOT CANDY, YOU DUNCE!" Because Roze had opened a Dust container and downed its contents. Apparently, the Blade got a charge out of it.**

"THAT FOOL! INGESTING DUST IS DANGEROUS!" Weiss yelled.

"He is not human and is happens to be immortal. He might survive." Blake said.

"Dust has been used in numerous ways, even injecting crystals externally on the body, but ingesting dust is a new situation." Ozpin said.

"I don't know too much about dust, but I sure that the story would explain the action." Luck said.

" **But it felt so good." Roze complained, reminding the heiress of a cookie starved Ruby. "It's like crystalized ether."**

Ether?

"There you go and more to come." Luck commented.

"… **That sounded wrong on so many levels." Weiss said through gritted teeth. "And what the heck is ether!?"**

 **Roze opened his mouth to reprimand Weiss before remembering where he was. "Ether is the energy that permeates everything in Alrest. Land. Water, fire even air." The rose themed Blade explained, although he was a little drained from his exposition in Ozpin's office.**

"That didn't explain much." Weiss said, still irritated from hearing dust being eaten.

"Roze is correct about ether being energy. I assume it's similar to your dust as an energy source. Of course, dust seems like a more limited, concentrated form of ether while ether is abundant in everything in my world." Luck explained.

" **Seriously." Yang said, liking this guy less by the second. First he started saying weird things, then he acted like he was Ruby's property, and now he snatched something that didn't belong to him. "Is there really no way to get rid of him." The blonde brawler complained as Weiss went on a rant about personal possessions.**

"I rather not get rid of him. Since the end of the previous chapter up to now I think he is kinda cool." Yang said.

"… **Well…" Ruby said, hugging Roze's scythe to comfort herself from all the tension around. "Maybe we should teach him not to take things that aren't his."**

" **I think Weiss has that covered." Blake deadpanned.**

" **YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!" Weiss screamed as she threw her hands into the air before flopping down on her bed, physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.**

 **All the while Roze looked on in confusion. "… Why did she get angry?"**

 **That question made Weiss scream into her pillow.**

"We're dealing with a man-child." Weiss said with a frown.

" **Umm… Roze," Ruby started, earning the rose reaper's attention. "You shouldn't take things that don't belong to you." Runy said unsurely, wondering if she could get through when Weiss couldn't.**

"… **How do I know what isn't mine?" Roze asked completely serious.**

It's like you're teaching a four year old." Blake commented.

" **Well… if you don't recognize it as your own, then it's probably not yours." Ruby said, hoping to get through to someone who apparently doesn't know the concept.**

"… **Okay." Roze said simply, before addressing the rest of the team. "In case you are all wondering, I can sleep on the floor if I must."**

"That was easy." Team RWBY said together.

"He could have been given a vacant room in the dorms. There are a few rooms at the academy." Ren said. The rooming situation would have been over in an instant if that happened.

"… **That's fine." Blake said, now wondering if Roze was… not quite right in the head. "I think we had some spare blankets." The cat faunus then said before moving to one of their closets that held the said sleeping gear.**

 **Roze hummed in acceptance as he took a look at the team's sleeping arrangements. "… How have any of you not died." The Blade asked at the sight of the improvised bunk beds. Ruby's bed, which was above Weiss', was held up to the roof by several ropes. Yang's bed, which was above Blake's, was a top a pile of books under each foot.**

" **They're sturdier than they look." Ruby responded happily, still proud of her idea.**

 **Roze ran his hand through his black locks with an unconvinced look. "… Wouldn't it be safer to get proper bunk beds?"**

"It was a great idea to free space. We had a lot of stuff." Ruby defended her bunk bed creation.

"I'm pretty sure the dorms are just large enough to accommodate four people." Pyrrha said.

"You could have just made a request to Beacon staff and we would have provided the beds." Ozpin told team RWBY.

"Wouldn't we have to pay for that?" Yang asked.

"There beds are free, but the labor to rearrange the room isn't." Ozpin answered.

" **Well, it was the only way to fit the beds here with all our stuff." Blake explained as she handed Roze a blanket and a pillow. Which the Blade accepted with a quick thank you. "But I have to ask, how do you know of bunk beds when you seem to not know… other things?" Blake then asked."**

"I doubt a considerable portion of your possessions were not necessary." Oobleck commented, now calmed down.

 **Roze sighed at the question. "I told you, I don't know. I just know about some things. For example, I knew about the sun, trees, lakes, mountains, and lots of other things, but I have yet to see many of them. After all, I was awakened only yesterday."**

 **Blake could only nod dumbly. "That sounds… odd."**

"Yet it's true." Blake said.

"… **I guess it would for a human. Roze said, before putting his blanket and pillow between the improvised bunk beds. "Speaking of which, I saw many people with animal ears or such traits. What's with that?"**

"… It's to be expected. Blades don't know about faunus since faunus don't live in Alrest." Blake said.

"We do have people with animal features in Alrest. There two common features you can see on these people that will distinguish them as either an Urayan or Gormotti. If you had aquatic features, then you were of Urayan descent. If you had cat-like features, then you were Gormotti." Luck told Blake. He omitted the Nopon race since they weren't humanoid and look like walking, talking potatoes.

In a way, faunus exist in Alrest. Blake guess the people of Alrest should have an easier time accepting the existence of faunus.

 **Blake almost blanched at the question. While Ruby who was previously in the bathroom to change into her pajamas heard the conversation.**

" **They're called faunus." Ruby asked simply.**

"That was more of a statement than a question." Ruby commented.

 **The rose themed Blade stared at Ruby for a while. "… Okay." Before shrugging and getting under his blanket.**

" **That's it?" Blake asked, never in her life has she heard someone react to her kind like that. "You heard about faunus and you just dismiss it?"**

"… **Are the Faunus evil?"**

" **WHAT!?" the black haired Faunus screamed angrily. "NO! We're-"**

" **Do they enjoy hurting others?" Roze asked again, interrupting whatever Blake was about to say.**

" **NO! Faunus-"**

" **Then I see no reason why I should address this any further. Roze said, once again interrupting the cat faunus. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I would like to get some shut eye." With that, Roze turned in a way that turned his back to Blake.**

"… That's it? He is just going to end the conversation like that." Blake did not expect that.

"Such a simple viewpoint of the faunus." Everyone else said.

 **Which left Blake with a very angry scowl. "Hey! Don't ignore me." Blake said in annoyance and just a hint of hatred. How dare he call faunus evil and just act like nothing was wrong.**

"He did say that. He just asked if they were evil because he doesn't know them. He doesn't even know that you are a faunus." Ruby defended Roze's words.

"I know that it's just a misunderstanding in the heat of the moment." Blake replied.

" **B-blake." Ruby stammered.**

" **Forget it, Ruby." Blake said angrily. "I'm going to bed." With that Blake went to the bathroom to change into her own nightware.**

" **Why did you have to be so mean." Ruby asked Roze, who turned his head enough to reveal one white eye.**

"… **I just stated fact." Roze said before returning his head to a more comfortable position.**

 **Ruby walked in front of her Blade so she can see his face. "You called faunus evil, how can you do that?" Ruby asked, wondering if there was a reason he hated faunus.**

"He didn't and now he is going to defend himself." Luck commented.

 **Roze opened one of his now closed eyes. "I didn't say they were evil, I asked if they are. And the answer I got was no, so I will be content with that… Unless I'm proven otherwise." Roze explained, adding the last part as an afterthought before closing his eyes again.**

 **Ruby opened her mouth to retort. But no sound came out because she realized what Roze was trying to say. He would consider the faunus like any other person based on Blake's responses, unless they're proven wrong. However, Ruby felt confident in the fact that Roze will never believe otherwise. "** _ **or if he does, he's gonna have to deal with me."**_ **Ruby thought confidently. But for now, she climbed to her bunk to sleep.**

"I still can't believe that he took my responses at face value." Blake said.

"If his opinion does change, then I'll set him straight." Ruby said confidently.

"You are an authority figure to him." Ozpin stated from everything he had seen so far.

 **Not to long after that, Blake peeked from the bathroom in her night clothes, giving a wary look to the now sleeping Roze. The black haored faunus fiddled with the bow that was covering her cat ears as she thought of the conversation she overheard. "** _ **… Maybe he doesn't hate faunus.**_ **" Blake thought before going to bed herself, feeling just a bit ashamed of herself for jumping to conclusions like that. But you really can't blame her afterseeing too many humans who hate her kind. Blake doesn't know this, but of course Roze can't know about the racism between humans and faunus when he didn't even know about faunus.**

"That's it and we're done with my prologue." Ruby said.

"I feel like the following prologue may be for the rest of our team." Blake said.

"You don't know that. I could be about us." Nora countered Blake's claim and referred to her team.

"Prepare for the next chapter" Luck announced.

* * *

 **Merry Christmas to you, Oobleck.**

 **This was the reason why Novice4129 wanted Oobleck in the reading or one of his reasons that he gave me. I wanted him to explore new history and events. Yes, I assumed Oobleck's age since he didn't have one listed. He could be a bit younger like 28. I think Adenine could physically be in her early or mid twenties.**

 **Roze's skillset (at least what I know and how I view them. I'll ignore the levels of skills)**

 **ATK Blade**

 **Attribute: Wind**

 **Special lv1 : Petal Blast (type = physical, range = single target)**

 **Special lv2: Crescent Bloom (type = physical, range =single target)**

 **Special lv3: Ravaging Rose (type = physical, range = circle [AOE])**

 **Special lv4: ?**

 **Blade Arts**

 **1\. Agility up**

 ***not sure if one or two more has been shown in the original story***

 **Battle skills**

 **1\. Thorn Barrier: Nullifies damage taken and reflects a portion of the damage to the attacker. (unsure of percentage)**

 **2\. Thorny Bloom:** **Increases the Divers attack speed (for basic attacks)**

 **3\. ?**

 **Field skills**

 **1\. Wind Mastery**

 **2\. Keen Eye**

 **3\. ? (I do know all rare Blades have three field skills)**

 **Driver Arts**

 **1\. Crescent Spinner**

 **2\. Rosy Shot**

 **3\. Thorn Hammer**

 **I thought about putting my Blade abilities here, but decided against it. Maybe next chapter... or any of the following chapters.**


	5. Prologue 2-1

**New Year, New Money.**

 **This was supposed to be posted on New Years Day, but got delayed because my brother (same one from my other story) came to my house with his family. His vacation got shortened a few days due to an error with his international flight so he had to use the airport in my area to get to where he needed to be. I had to maintain his car while he was away.**

 **That Blade sheet I did in the last chapter was on a whim. I was from what I remember about the Blade from the story. I can't promise that I would do the same for the other OC Blades because I don't want to hop between chapters to get the information. If you liked that then let me know and send me the abilities other the other OC Blades or Novice could send me the info himself when I cover a chapter with a new OC Blade. Any possible Blade sheet updates may go into a separate, dedicated chapter.**

 **I suck at building character sheets, but if the Blade sheet thing gets supported I'll consider doing a FE x RWBY fic, but it would be inspired by someone else's work unless the idea gets taken. I'll admit that I may need some help with that.**

 **New poll up. Lets see how nice or how problematic you readers could be. I hoping for the former. Wait, I could just disrespect your decisions again.**

 **Patch Update 1.01: I recall making reference for the original story possibly getting fan art for some scenes. I wasn't joking. I'll name moments I think should be brought out through art. First scene I can think of would be when Ruby was holding Roze's hand after her failed assassination. Yep, back to when the original story was considered to be a oneshot until request came in.**

 **Patch Update 1.02: I hope that in the possible January Direct (mini), Nintendo would announce a port of either Xenoblade X, the Xenosaga trilogy, or Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE for Switch.**

 **Patch Update 1.03: Use of music has been updated from generic title to named title.**

* * *

"Before we start, how long have we been here?" Jaune asked. "The clock on my scroll hasn't changed since we got here. It's still a bit past 4 pm."

"Perhaps this affects the time reading on our scrolls since they are accustomed to the normal flow of time on Remnant." Ozpin hypothesized.

"It's been nearly three hours since you been here." Luck answered Jaune's question. Nearly a second has passed in standard Remnant time and a minute in Alrest time.

"Wait! Does that mean we got extended battery life?" Nora asked. Plenty of benefits for extended battery life.

"I'm not sure about that." Ren doubted that scrolls have extended battery life in this altered space.

"I don't know." How would luck know. "Is everyone ready?"

Luck received confirmation from everyone, verbal or just a nod.

The viewers took a look at the title of the next prologue and chapter.

 **Ice Bunny for Ice Queen**

Weiss remained quiet, wondering what this could mean other than the fact that her other had the aptitude to awaken a Blade. "It could either be a Blade similar to that Finch Blade Luck showed us or it could be a humanoid Blade like Roze."

"Without the Core Crystal, the blue light aesthetic, and the white eyes Roze could pass off as a blind human." Pyrrha stated her analysis.

"If your Blade is similar to Roze and follows the implication given by the title, then you Blade could be considered a faunus with rabbit features." Blake said as she looks at Weiss.

It hadn't been that long since Blake went missing. Since then, Weiss has been trying to put more effort into trusting faunus more, starting with Blake and extending to Velvet. To awaken a Blade who can potentially be considered a faunus and be her bonded partner. She also thought that viewing such a unique being as what the humans of Remnant consider to be an animal when talking about faunus to be unjust.

"Just like how Ruby read her entire prologue, you will read yours Weiss." Luck said without getting any signs for an objection.

 **It has been some time since Blades were introduced to Beacon with the assistance of Adenine and doctor Oobleck. Now… Team RWBY was invited to Ozpin's office again.**

"Ambiguous time skip, yet still before the second semester." Ozpin said.

"I wonder what convenient lie you came up with to introduce Blades to the school professor." Nora said.

"Something that somewhat believable, yet still a stretch." Ozpin replied.

" **I'm sorry, I must've misheard you, headmaster." Weiss said being unsure that Ozpin didn't say what she thought he said.**

" **You heard me correctly, Miss Schnee." Ozpin said** **with a smile. "I believe it's time to test if any of you are ready to be Drivers."**

"I would tell you that you should be smiling at a student's possible death if it weren't for these titles." Weiss told Ozpin.

Ozpin gave a smile as if he was confident that nothing would happen to Miss Schnee even if the chapters were not titled.

" **You mean… we could get another Roze?" Yang asked, no longer hostile to Ruby's Blade, but she would not be friends with him anytime soon.**

"You can get two or more of the same Blade either rare or common. That alone makes us all feel unique, but rare Blades take that uniqueness a step up." Luck commented.

" **There is only one of me." Roze retorted like he was talking about the weather. A quirk that still annoys Yang, especially when it seems like he doesn't take anyone except Ruby seriously.**

" **All Blades are different." Said Adenine, who's full appearance still turned heads. Beneath her chest was basically an empty space, which made many people wonder how she could even be alive. Then there was that giant floating book attached to her back with a large chain. Finally, the flaps on her coat like outfit, looked to be made out of pages with writing on them. "Just look at me and Roze." The book themed Blade added unnecessarily… At least if you ask anyone else.**

"Her appearance further solidifies that claim." Penny said.

"Knowledge is literally power with her." Nora said exciting know that she was right earlier even though she may not be a fan of book work. A lot of people aren't.

Adenine's appearance… she is a Blade awakened from a Core Crystal, so she obviously wouldn't be human. Knowing that, only a few viewers made an educated guess that only a certain part of a Blades' bodied is needed to be considered alive.

 **Glynda adjusted her glasses before speaking. "We have prepared best paramedics in Vale in case any of you are rejected." The professor motioned to the two medics who had prepared all the equipment necessary to treat a massive blood loss. "That is… if you are willing to try." The professor added.**

 **That made the WBY of team RWBY wonder. On one hand, they might get an awesome new weapon along with a reliable partner. On the other hand, they might get seriously injured… or the Blade they get is annoying.**

"The annoyance part may only be for Yang. Ruby's Blade may not be as bad as our others think he is, but if he was then we got lucky to skip most of the annoyance." Weiss said.

There is no way Yang is annoying, right?

" **I wish to go first." Weiss said, making her decision, earning surprised looks.**

" **Weiss, are you sure?" Ruby asked in concern. Her own fear when she awakened Roze still made her worry about what could've been. "What if you get rejected?"**

 **Weiss scoffed. "Oh please. I'm a Schnee."**

"That arrogance and pride could get you killed one day, Ms. Schnee. I advise you rid yourself of that." Oobleck told the heiress. "You should count yourself lucky that multiple prologues exist and that the chapters are titled to let you know that your other would even get a Blade."

It's okay to have some pride in your family, but arrogant was one description that Weiss never thought she would hear about her. Coming from one of her instructors, she may need to rid herself of that arrogance.

" **That means nothing. "Roze said, earning an icy glare from the resident ice queen.**

Weiss couldn't believe that she just read a description of herself as the ice queen.

"She's aware of her title." Yang and Nora said together.

"Quiet, both of you!" Weiss harshly told them before continuing.

" **He's not wrong." Adenine and Oobleck said in unison, glancing at each other at the perfect timing. Then Adenine let out a small laugh while Oobleck looked away from his Blade in mild embarrassment.**

"Hmm, 100 percent sync." Ozpin said.

'Why headmaster?' Oobleck thought. Although, saying the same thing as someone else should not particularly be embarrassing. Just a bit surprising.

 **Then the doctor cleared his throat. "As Adenine and Mr. Roze pointed out, your family name, lineage and strength seem to be irrelevant when it comes to being a Driver. I cannot stress enough that you don't have to do this." Oobleck gave each of the Bladeless members of team RWBY a meaningful look.**

" **I trust that I will be in capable hands, should the unlikely occur." Weiss said, looking calm, but still just a little stiffer than usual.**

Knowing that being able to be a Driver is a fixed fifty-fifty scenario, Weiss felt a bit of cringe from her other's statement, but that went away once her stiffness has been detected in her voice.

" **Wow. Someone's confident. That's nothing to** _ **Schneeze**_ **at." Yang punned in an attempt to lighten the mood. But she only earned groans from the rest of her team and an unamused look from Glynda and Oobleck.**

Silence.

"BOO!" Nora cried out.

Ruby played the sound effect of booing on her scroll.

"If there was one difference between both versions of Yang, the other Yang would either have better humor or just didn't didn't tell jokes at all." Weiss said after groaning.

"You're just hating on my sense of humor. You haven't even heard my golden jokes." Yang retorted.

"… **I think you meant sneeze." Roze said, earning a giggle from Ruby and various other expressions of amusement from anyone that wasn't Yang. Turns out that the rose themed Blade seems to be physically incapable of understanding puns… Even as a concept.**

"I think someone like Roze is what's missing from your material. You probably weren't meant to be a solo comedian." Weiss said to Yang.

"And no help from dad." Ruby added.

The other students either laughed or giggle at that.

"Aw, come on!" Yang complained.

" **Thank you Roze." Weiss thanked the Blade for once again annoying Yang without even trying. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to awaken a Blade stronger than you." The heiress added with an air of confidence. Or at least, that's what she hopes she let on. Weiss strode over to the headmaster's desk that had several Core Crystals lined up.**

 **Only to be stopped by Glynda. Miss Schnee, I suggest you consider this one more time." The teacher said with a stern look. "Even with the medics… there is a chance that you may not recover."**

"The results of a rejection vary, even including instant death. How do you plan to recover from death?" Luck asked Weiss.

She couldn't answer.

 **Weiss switched her look of arrogance into a look of determination. "Professor, I know the risk, and I'm willing to take it." The white haired girl said firmly.**

 **Glynda keeps her gaze fixed at Weiss for a few more seconds. When the heiress didn't back down, the professor gave a sigh of resignation before stepping aside.**

 **Now, Weiss was free to choose a Core Crystal to try and resonate with. It was a difficult choice, because according to Adenine, you can't know what kind of Blade you might gain since the Core Crystals all look the same. Then she saw one Crystal that shined just a little brighter than others. "** _ **That must be it."**_ **Weiss thought with a smile. If only she had realized that she just imagined it. But even if she had, it was too late. Weiss had already grasped the Core before feeling the drain in her aura. The feeling was… uncomforting.**

"Just a visual illusion from try to find any sort of difference in the crystals." Penny said

"Adenine is mostly correct. The only exception would be the Aegis Core Crystals." Luck informed them.

"'Aegis Core Crystals'." Ozpin repeated the term. "Are there more than one Aegis?"

"Well, it's soon to be one anyway." Luck replied.

 **The rest of the gang could only stare as Weiss' legs slowly lost their ability to carry her weight.**

 **Ruby quickly turned to Roze in concern, giving an unvoiced plea to him. The Blade responded with a smile as the Core started glowing brighter. "It's happening." Roze said as the Crystal Flashed brightly.**

(Play XC2: Awakened DNA)

 **Weiss couldn't take it anymore. She fell on her knees, completely exhausted. In fact, she felt like she could sleep the next two** _ **weeks**_ **away. However, she held onto her consciousness as she saw a pair of feet covered by a light. Soon enough, the light faded, revealing snow white bar feet that looked like they belong to a rabbit. "The name is Dahlia." Weiss heard a female voice say. The Schnee heiress mustered every ounce of her waning consciousness to look up. And what she saw, made her jaw drop. It was… a white cleavage, and very ample one too. You see, Weiss' Blade had lowered herself a little to be more at her eye level. After staring for a few seconds, Weiss was able to drag her eyes above the cleavage to see a Core Crystal in the shape of a snowflake. Not like the Schnee emblem though.**

" **Ohhohoo." Was the laughter that accompanied a gentle lift of Weiss' chin. "My eyes are up here darling."**

 **That was when Weiss saw the face of the Blade she had awakened. A beautiful snow white skinned woman, who had an amused smile. "I will make your life as enchanting as possible." The woman said with a smile.**

(OST end)

Weiss herself was surprised that she managed to get through the awakening sequence without stopping or being interrupted, despite the blush that colored her face when she read about the cleavage part.

Ozpin and Oobleck were disciplined enough to not gawk at the female Blade's assets.

The students, barring Yang, Nora and Penny, blushed at Weiss' first sight of her Blade.

Nora felt the need to cover Ren's eyes. She received no resistance from Ren. Even if there was resistance, the physical strength difference worked in Nora's favor.

Pyrrha did the same with Jaune, but in the process she accidently poked Jaune's eye with her finger.

"Ow."

"I'm sorry."

"There is no need for any of that. Blades can't help the way they look upon awakening and there are more Blades who can invoke a similar reaction. I suggest you get used to it." Luck told everyone.

"Hmm, impressive. Her voice is good, but it's not what you expect from someone who looks like her." Yang said.

"Unlike Roze, Dahlia is a Blade I do have data on from my world. She's a decent healer type Blade, but her main role focuses on team synergy during team attacks.

Okay, so in direct comparison to what they have seen from Roze, Dahlia may not be as strong as him in a one-on-one duel but makes up for that with team synergy. Weiss could work with that.

 **Unfortunately, Weiss' tired mind couldn't take what sounded like flirting. So in a last ditch effort to save her sanity… her consciousness shut down.**

 **Meanwhile, the rest of the people in the room were staring at Weiss' new Blade. How could they not? This woman was very well endowed, and the only article of clothing was a snowflake patterned icy blue… mini-dress? Anyway, the outfit only reached very little past her thighs, and left none of her curvaceous form to the imagination. The sleeves reached just past her shoulders before they revealed furry arms that ended into overly large bestial hands. Her feet being the same way, except there was also large claw coming out of her heel as if she was wearing high heels. Next up, her hair was snowy while, like Weiss'. Except they were tied into two enormous beautiful braids that almost made Yang jealous. But the tip of those braids… they looked like the tips of bunny ears. One of those ears even has a snowflake shaped earring. And when you take a closer look at her head, you would notice a lack of human ears on her. One last thing that was noticed by the teachers for now, was a small tuft of fur on her shapely rear… a bunny tail.**

There's no denying it. The teachers got caught staring, but no one called them out since they were just as distracted by the Blades appearance.

 **Oobleck averted his gaze from the Blade that introduced himself as Dahlia. While Ozpin… he had seen some amazing things over the course of his life, but this… This takes the cake. Glynda… she wasn't sure what to think.**

No. The introduction of Klaus easily takes the cake for Ozpin.

 **As for the students, Ruby pulled her hood over her eyes. Much to Roze's confusion, while he himself seemed… unaffected by Dahlia's appearance.**

 **Blake felt a little insulted because of a certain slur that came into mind that was used on faunus. Furry. If Blake's mind wasn't in such a turmoil though, she would've found it funny that despite being snow motifed, apparently, Dahlia sounded much warmer than their resident ice queen.**

"An ice queen who isn't cold? An improvement from ours." Yang said.

"Quiet you!" That did snap Weiss out of her blush a bit. Maybe she should thank Yang.

 **And Yang… her jaw had dropped at the sight of this buxom rabbit lady. Her eyes tracing every curve of Dahlia's body. From her shapely legs, ignoring the paw-like feet in heels, to her shapely rear, to the generous bust. Yang took a look at her own rack, and… "** _ **Is this how Weiss felt when I hugged her?"**_ **Few months ago, Yang teased Weiss by pulling the heiress' face into her cleavage. Aside from the girl not being happy about it, Yang noticed a hint of jealousy in the ice queen's eyes. But now for the first time in her life, Yang felt lacking… "** _ **It sucks."**_

"Yes! Feel my pain!" Weiss declared to Yang.

Yang admitted to herself that she felt lacking. She knew that she was comparable to Goodwitch and Pyrrha, only losing to the latter in bust size just by a little. "… At least I got something." Yang countered.

That was unfortunately true for Weiss. She dropped the issue to continue reading.

"… **How did Blades choose their outfits?" Glynda decided to ask Adenine.**

" **The book themed Blade gave the professor a confused look. "What do you mean?"**

" **I meant, couldn't she have dressed in something more… modest?" Glynda asked, already imagining the reactions most of the male population on Beacon would have on Dahlia, and some of the female population too.**

"Pervs." Said all of the present females except Penny.

"Your one to talk. I've seen you looking at girls like that too, especially Blake." Weiss said, getting Blake to glare at Yang through her blush.

"I can admire a nice view from anyone either guy or girl. Blake just happens to be my most frequent target since we're on the same team." Yang explained.

"Please, just stop." Blake requested from her embarrassment.

 **Adenine brought her hand to her chin in a thinking pose as she wondered the question. " …Do humans choose how they their bodied look as they grow?"**

"Pondered is the word, not wondered." Blake muttered while Weiss thought of the same thing.

 **Glynda did not expect a question like that. "Of course we don't, we just do!" For some reason the deputy headmaster felt offended at the question.**

" **There's your answer." Roze said, realizing what Adenine was saying as a fellow Blade. "How we look and how our outfits look aren't decided by us, we just are we are."**

 **As irritated as Glynda was, she saw the logic in it. One glance at Adenine was all the convincing she needed after all. "** _ **To think that Miss Rose's Blade would look most normal."**_ **Glynda thought as memories of the black haired, white eyed, rose themed Blade disrespected authority on multiple occasions… Sad thing is, Roze still doesn't see it that way.**

" **Who might you people be?" Dahlia asked politely as she held Weiss' uncocious form. With the heiress' head resting on one of the white mounds on Dahlia's chest.**

"Just like holding a young child close to oneself." Ozpin said.

The rest of team RWBY and Nora got a laugh out of that comment.

Weiss wanted to say something, but she was against talking back to an authority figure.

 **That made everyone snap out of everything else, remembering that they now have an unconscious student.**

" **Medics." Ozpin simply said, and two people instantly got to work.**

 **It seemed like Dahlia understood the situation, since she did nothing to interfere. After a few quick checks, the medics gave their verdict. "Miss Schnee seems to have fainted from rapid aura exhaustion., but otherwise is alright." The first medic said like this was a routine check. "All she needs is rest now." The second medic said.**

"It seems that aura exhaustion and possible fainting may be a common occurrence when successfully awakening a Blade." Penny observed. "The medics seem quite capable on first response."

" **Good to hear." Ozpin said. "Now then, I believe Miss Schnee would be more comfortable in her dorm. Wouldn't you girls agree?"**

 **That snapped RBY out of their stupors. "Uhh… Yeah, I guess." Ruby said, refusing to take her hood off.**

" **It might be." Blake said, now finding this situation bizzare for different reasons. Because the feline faunus in hiding realized, that without Dahlia's… bestial appendages, the Blade could easily pass as Weiss' relative.**

"Blake is right. Dahlia looks like she could be Weiss' mother or aunt." Jaune said.

"If I had to be honest, describing someone with the term 'bestial' who isn't part of our world, yet looks like us leaves a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth." Blake said.

" **Sure… it would be breast for Weiss cream." Yang said almost on autopilot.**

"Almost?" Weiss questioned Yang. "It seems like something you would say, autopilot or not."

"Can't argue with that, but I do think it was a good pun." Yang replied.

"Hardly. It seems a bit forced."

"… **I think you mean best." Roze said, once again proving his inability to comprehend puns. "And is Weiss cream supposed to be a joke. And other forms of humor seem to elude him occasionally.**

"Stop killing the puns!" Yang demanded the Blade who could in no way hear her.

"More like he is saving your puns from being bad." Ruby said.

"His inability to comprehend your puns is the punchline." Nora said.

There is no way the humorless is funnier than those with humor, right?

 **At that moment, Dahlia had decided to pick Weiss into her arms in a bridal carry. "That does sound more comfortable than a floor." the snow rabbit Blade said. "Could you please lead the way."**

" **Uhhh… sure." Ruby said as she walked into the elevator with the rest of her team, as well as Roze and Dahlia following suit. The RBY of team RWBY had forgotten the other Core Crystals that were still lying on the headmaster's desk.**

"Another time I suppose." Ozpin commented.

 **Then, as the elevator left. Ozpin turned towards the other people in the room. "…I believe we should let team RWBY adjust to Dahlia before we try again." Ozpin said as he picked a pair of pliers and started gathering the Crystals back into the chest he had brought from the vault. Not that anyone who wasn't privy to the said vault's existence knew that.**

" **Agreed. Glynda said, still worrying about how Weiss might react to having Dahlia as her Blade properly, before the disciplinarian remembered something. "Wait! Was Dahlia even carrying a weapon?"**

"Yeah, doesn't the term Blade mean a weapon is involved?" Ruby asked receiving a nod from Luck. "WHAT IS IT?!"

"Was it necessary to shout?" I'm right here."

Ruby laughed nervously. "Heehee… I guess not."

"You may or may not be disappointed, but her weapon is a bitball." Luck answered her question.

How is a ball supposed to be used as a weapon? Ruby was disappointed that Weiss' Blade didn't have a cool weapon.

Even Weiss was a bit confused. A ball as a weapon? Impossible.

 **Now that it was mentioned, Dahlia didn't seem to carry any kind of weapon on her. "Maybe her hands are knuckle claws" Oobleck suggested. After all, the books on Adenine's wrist are actually the said weapons. Energy spikes come out of the corners of the books. The said spikes are also surrounded with an energy circle in the form of what looked like circular saw blades.**

"Never thought I would saw this but books are cool as long as they are a weapon." Ruby said, getting nods of agreement from Yang, Nora and Jaune.

Blake was a bit miffed that she heard that books are only cool as a weapon. Books a wonderful and she is not just making reference to her reading material.

"As a first response from your other doctor, knuckle claws are not a bad guess. It would put Dahlia as a more offensive healer like Adenine, but Adenine's recovery skills are lacking." Luck told Oobleck, informing him a bit about his own Blade.

" **I can't see that happening, unless she somehow removes her arms." Adenine countered simply. "However, objectively speaking, she would be a perfect fit for team RWBY.**

" **And why is that?" Glynda asked, not seeing how that impossibly busty woman could even fight.**

If Dahlia could fight, then she would be bouncing… a lot. That may or may not be a scene each individual viewer wants to see.

 **During this exchange, Ozpin had given the two medics permission to leave, seeing as they weren't needed anymore. But he would call them again when necessary.**

 **Adenine turned to her Driver. "Barty, do you remember how I explained the elements?" this query earned a sigh from Glynda. Apparently, the doctor had given his Blade permission to use the nickname Port always used.**

" **Oh yes." Oobleck confirmed quickly. "You mentioned there to be eight elements a Blade could have, why?"**

"Mr. Luck, I do recall you being referred to as a light Blade. Would you mind telling us each element a Blade could and how meaningful they are?" Oobleck asked.

"I won't go into detail since you will find out about the meaning of the elements. There is fire, water, ice, wind, earth, electric, light and dark."

" **As you probably remember, certain elements are weak to each other, but the Blades of differing elements can combine their abilities to create devastating combos." Adenine explained earning the other two teacher's attention. "In this case, Dahlia being an ice Blade is compatible with a wind Blade such as Roze or I. Though they would still need a water Blade."**

"So a complete combo requires three different elements?" Ren asked.

"Some combos may need three different elements, some need two elements, and a few require one element only." Luck answered. "Dahlia and Roze cover the first and last steps respectively, only needing a water Blade in the middle. However, they can do a complete Blade combo with just their own elements. Dahlia would have to put in more work though. The combination would be wind, ice, and ice."

"What about Blade combos involving you?" Ren further inquired.

"I can benefit from multiple elements in a Blade combo. I can also potentially do a complete Blade combo with just my own element. Before you ask, the other elements that can enable a Blade to do a complete combo by their self would be dark, fire, and water."

"Do you always need specific element combinations to do a Blade combo." Penny asked.

"No. You can do complete Blade combos in any sequence with any element. However, Blade combos done out of proper sequence are not as strong as proper Blade combos, but still powerful.

" **How devastating are we talking about?" Ozpin asked, wondering if he had given his students too much power too soon.**

" **I'm afraid I cannot remember that." Adenine said apologetically.**

"That's troublesome." The teachers said together.

" **It's quite alright my dear." Oobleck quickly said.**

Even if it wasn't in a romantic sense, Oobleck's other could have omitted the word 'dear' or used a different word.

" _ **My dear!?"**_ **Was the** **incredulous thought that screamed in Glynda's head. Since when did Oobleck start calling Adenine that?**

"Once a common interest was found." The Beacon students said in unison. They were graced with a groan from Oobleck. It's going to take time to not be affected by the teasing.

" **Now, was there anything else?" Oobleck asked Ozpin.**

" **No. as I recall you were planning an exam soon." Ozpin said with a small.**

Ahh, exams. The bane of some students.

" **Aaahh, yes! I need to get to work on that." Oobleck quickly said as he dashed to the elevator.**

" **Barty wait! What about the ancient tablet you said we would study together?" Adenine said as she barely made it to the elevator with her eccentric Driver.**

"… **Did those two have a date?" Glynda said, still trying to comprehend it.**

 **Ozpin chuckled. "If by 'date' you mean studying an ancient artifact, then it sure sounded like it.**

The thing is, Oobleck could imagine a date going like that if it involved him.

"… **I know I'm going to regret this, but has Oobleck said anything that would hint to him being… in love?" Glynda asked uncertainly. Having Oobleck in love with a person and not his work sounded alien to her.**

"You're not alone." Said the Beacon students.

If the concept of romantic love should be foreign to anyone it would be Penny.

 **Ozpin let out a full of laughter which was extremely rare for him. "No. or at least… not in my presence." That earned a sigh from Glynda who felt unusually tired right now. "But even if they do eventually become official, would it truly cause any drastic changes?" the headmaster asked.**

 **Now the Goodwitch opened her mouth to retort, but then, as she really thought about it. No it wouldn't change anything. Even if it meant so far as the two getting married, Glynda can't see Oobleck quitting his job as a teacher, or even archeology. In fact, the blonde professor actually saw Adenine helping their good doctor through thick and thin of his job. "I suppose not." Glynda replied to Ozpin. "Or perhaps I'm just looking too much into this."**

"I doubt my marital status would affect my work. There is a reason why I am both a teacher and huntsman."

"So you're not denying that Adenine will prove to be a beneficial partner in your career?" Ozpin asked his fellow staff member.

"Yes."

" **Maybe we both are." Ozpin admitted, before smirking. "Though I must wonder… can Blades have children? Especially Adenine?"**

"OZPIN!" Oobleck loudly said.

"To the best of my knowledge there hasn't been a single record of Blades reproducing like humans, but if they could I think Adenine would be an exception among rare Blades." Luck said.

 **Glynda would have given an angry shout at Ozpin if she hadn't realized that it was actually a very good question. Biology aside, Adenine had a lot of empty space in her torso as well as her legs. "…I don't want to think about it." Glynda said because she still had about a thousand questions about Adenine's bizarre body. But she never could never bring herself to ask about them, fearing it would be rude or inappropriate.**

"It's true that those questions may be inappropriate, but if Adenine is anything like Oobleck then she would answer some of those questions." Ozpin said.

Oobleck may not be a doctor focused on biological and medical knowledge, but he did have that thought in the back of his head.

 **Few hours later have passed in RWBY dorm with Weiss sleeping peacefully on her bed. Only, she begun to stir.**

"Sleeping beauty rises!" Nora exclaimed.

"… **Guys… I had a weird dream." Weiss said as soon as she opened her eyes and glanced at her teammates. Or at least, Ruby and Yang were in the dorm. Roze was sitting in one of the chairs reading one of Ruby's weapon magazines.**

Weiss rolled her eyes at the sight of the magazine. "Of course you would still have the magazines around."

"It prime reading material." Ruby defended. "The new weapons, parts, and techniques in it helps me improve my weapon and fight against other weapon types."

"… I give you that, but it doesn't mean it teach you to fight against someone's style with a specific weapon." Weiss said.

"There are huntsman interviews in those magazines too. Along with references to online videos."

"Ruby, if you were a Blade then weapon crafting or weapon mastery would be one of your skills." Luck said.

" **What kind of Dream?" Yang asked before smirking. "Was it about me?"**

"No."

"You sure? I can melt your frozen heart." Yang said with a smirk.

"No."

 **If Weiss wasn't fully awake before, she was now. "No you dolt! I dreamt that I got a faunus for a Blade!" Then Weiss sighed. "Luckily it was just a dream, because father would kill me for that… And I don't know what Winter would think." The last one said in a voice too small for the sisters to hear.**

"But we can read it!" The sister said in unison.

"Ignoring the obvious stereotype of the Schnee family, I can understand your father… but sister?" Blake questioned. She knew this issue would pop up since the started of the chapter along with everyone else.

"Yes, I have siblings. I may have a full family, but we are not a 'whole' family. Unlike my father, I just… don't trust most faunus. I don't exactly hate them. I believe I mentioned that to the rest of the team in a way. As for my sister… I don't know." Weiss explained.

"If something does happen to you, I'm sure Dahlia will protect you to the best of her ability. I doubt she would get physical with your family, even as a last resort. Not to say she won't if necessary." Luck said.

 **Although the said sisters were now looking at each other awkwardly. "Umm… Weiss… that wasn't a dream." Ruby said carefully.**

"… **What?" It looked like Weiss thought she misheard Ruby.**

 **Before anyone could answer that, the door to the dorm opened with Blake and Dahlia entering. "You can ask Weiss later when- Oh, you're awake." Blake said in surprise as she noticed a very awake and alert Weiss.**

"A better wakeup call than the whistle at least." Weiss muttered.

 **However, Weiss wasn't focusing on her teammate. She was focusing on the busty "faunus" that was supposed to be a dream. Now that the heiress has rested, her mind had the strength to process the visage in front of her. Her furry arms and legs with bestial appendages and those braids that looked like rabbit ears at the tips. Or is it rabbit ears that looked like braids? Anyway, that wasn't what Weiss focused on. What she focused on were the Blade's overly large breast, a figure that screamed "sexy", and a beautiful face that was now in a caring smile. And then dark clouds formed, plunging Weiss into darkness. "Why does the world hate me?"**

Jaune was ready to say something, but his mouth got covered by Pyrrha's hand.

"I don't think this is the time for you to say anything." She told her leader.

"Indeed, Mr. Arc. Let's see how this plays out." The headmaster said.

" **Umm Weiss?" Yang sounded out of concern. She has never seen her white teammate depressed. Angry? Oh yes. But never depressed.**

" **Why am I such a failure as a woman?" Weiss then mouthed, clearly not hearing Yang.**

" **What do you mean by failure as a woman?" Dahlia asked in concern.**

 **This made Weiss stare at Dahlia like she just claimed the sky to be red. "HOW!? You have a figure that women would KILL to have. And me? I'm just a flat figureless girl that can never have any hope to compare! I-" Weiss' rant was interrupted by Dahlia coming over to hug her. Blake and Yang winced at the ice bunny's approach. Weiss would just be pushed further into depression with her Blade's rack pressing against her own. Further driving Weiss' little complex. However, for some reason, Weiss found herself focused on the hand that was caressing her head gently and the shoulder her head was leaning against.**

Weiss was tempted to just let someone else, but it she supposed it was better for her to read… this kind of scene herself than hear it from another. Plus, Ruby read her entire prologue, so she felt that she should do the same.

" **Weiss, you don't need a figure like mine to be beautiful." Dahlia explained calmly. "Just because your figure is more subtle doesn't mean you're any less beautiful than me or anyone else on your team for that matter." Of course that comment earned some reaction from the rest of team RWBY but they were more interested in how this Blade planned to cure Weiss' complex.**

" **I… I." Weiss was at a loss for words. Still hesitant about believing Dahlia.**

 **The Dahlia pulled Weiss away so she could cup her face and force her Driver to look her in the eyes. "Tell me honestly, has anyone ever said that you were beautiful?" The snow rabbit themed Blade asked seriously.**

Yes, people have. Jaune would be the most recent example during her time at Beacon.

 **Weiss opened her mouth to say no one has done that, but found herself unable to do that. "…Yes…" Weiss said, earning a frown from Dahlia that demanded details. "I mean… I have been told I am beautiful, but… people just say that so they could get their hands on my family fortune." Weiss admitted bitterly.**

Jaune didn't care about the Schnee fortune. He was just trying to catch Weiss' interest. Unfortunately, she is not into him.

 **Dahlia looked unconvinced. "Is that the only reason?"**

 **That simple question had more impact than Weiss wanted to admit. The new Driver opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. She tried again with equal success. And then… "…I guess not." Third time's the charm. "It's just… I sometimes wish I had more." Weiss admitted with a blush.**

"Your fine the way you are Weiss." Ruby told her partner.

"Yeah you have plenty of things going for you. Your beautiful, smart, excellent in combat, and you have an angelic voice, especially when you sing." Jaune said.

That sounded genuine, especially coming from Jaune. She still wasn't into him though. "Thanks." Weiss said. Although she does still wish she was bigger to at least be comparable to her sister. Her sister may have been where her complex started, and it got extended to friends. More specifically, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha.

 **Dahlia chuckled good naturedly as she let go of Weiss' face. "It's alright to wish or wonder, but don't let it get you to think that you're no good as you are." The sincere smile on Dahlia made Weiss feel a pang or jealousy again, but it was significantly smaller than at the start of the conversation.**

Weiss gave a soft smile.

" **Thank you." Weiss finally said. "I feel a lot better now." And then she heard a click, which prompted her to turn her head to see a snickering Yang with a scroll up. "You didn't!" Weiss shouted, only to get a smug nod as a response. "GIVE ME THAT!" and now Weiss was trying to reach the scroll that had who knows how many pictures from which could give people the wrong idea.**

Weiss could have sworn she heard a snap as she read that part. She used her glyphs to bind Yang to her seat.

"WHAT!?" Yang shouted in surprise.

"Give me your scroll!" Weiss snatched the scroll from Yang's hands. "There is no way you'll embaress me with this." Weiss found the picture in Yang's gallery and deleted it. "There." Weiss released Yang and handed back her scroll.

What Weiss didn't know was that Blake took a photo at the same time Yang did, but she managed to hide the evidence faster than Yang.

" **What's wrong with Weiss?" Dahlia asked in confusion as the heiress jumped up and down, trying to reach the scroll that was held by the taller girl.**

Damn, the height advantage is working for Yang's other while Yang got caught in her seat.

" **Scrolls can take pictures." Roze explained quickly.**

" **Is that so." Dahlia said in wonder. While Blake had given the Blade a small tour around Beacon earlier, the black haired girl only given a short explanation about scrolls.**

 **Then the scroll in question made a noise, which was familiar to the team, but not the Blades. If the worried look on Ruby and Blake, or the horrified look on Weiss were any indication.**

" **Who did you send it to!" Weiss demanded, getting very scared. And then she noticed a small detail on the scroll that made the white girl even whiter as her face lost what color she had. The snowflake emblem of the Schnee family on the back. "YOU USED MY SCROLL!?"**

"That may or may not cause some problems." Penny had already met two of the Schnee family members, including Weiss. She was aware of the rumors about the Schnee family, but those were just rumors. She hadn't been in contact with Winter for very long while at Atlas, but she didn't think that Winter would reacted negatively for what just happened in the story. Penny still expected a reaction though.

"Just great." Weiss groaned.

 **And now Yang had to bring her hands over her ears in a futile effort to block Weiss' scream of bloody murder. Which gave the heiress the needed opportunity to snatch her scroll back.**

 **As Weiss quickly checked what Weiss said and to whom, Blake slowly recovering from the sonic assault on her cat ears. "I get Weiss has an image to uphold, but did she really have to scream so loudly?" Blake complained with one pair of her ears ringing a little.**

" **Yeah." Ruby said, also sure that she has ear damage too.**

"Must be from her voice exercises during when she is practicing for a concert." Nora said.

"I'm surprised that she didn't break the windows in our dorm." Yang said.

Great, now Weiss' voice practice is going against her.

 **Dahlia meanwhile looked at the situation with worry. "Weiss… are you alright?" Dahlia asked carefully when the girl in question slumped to the floor with a look of horror.**

" **Yang… what in the name of Remnant made you post this to her?" Weiss asked Yang in a voice that could possibly freeze the sun.**

"It was an accident."

"Don't you EVER touch my scroll." Weiss told Yang in a tone that was too cold, even for her.

 **For once, Yang was nervous of Weiss' tone. "Ehhehee… An accident." Yang said unsurely, not even questioning who Weiss was referring to.**

 **Roze raised an eyebrow. "How do you accidently send a picture to someone in that situation?"**

"… **Cause I'm that awesome." Yang quipped nervously… and the temperature of the room dropped significantly.**

"Sounds like something uncle Qrow would do and say." Ruby muttered so Yang didn't hear her.

" **YANG XIAO LONG! I WILL MAKE AN ICE BLOCK OUT OF YOUR BLOCKY HEAD!" And then Yang had to run with Weiss hot on her heel… Or cold in this case…**

Probably not the best time for Yang to make a pun.

 **Anyway, the two exited the room, leaving worried RB, a confused Dahlia, and a disinterested Roze.**

"… **Soooo," Ruby began, "who do you think Yang sent the pictures to?"**

" **Who knows." Blake said, not thinking about it too much. "I think we should just pray for Yand to return alive." With that, Blake picked one of her books and went to her bed to read.**

Ruby and Blake put their hands together and closed their eyes. "May Yang return not completely frozen and suffering from frostbite." They said together.

"You two really think that I won't survive, don't you?" Yang asked the RB of her team.

No response.

 **Dahlia meanwhile turned towards her fellow Blade. "…Is this kind of thing normal?"**

 **It took a moment for Roze to find the right words. "…From what I understand, yes."**

 **That made Dahlia worry about both her own and her Driver's future.**

"If Yang knew how to control herself you wouldn't need to worry Dahlia." Weiss said.

"Hey, I got control." Yang defended herself.

"What about all that noise from that one building I found you outside of?" Ruby asked her sister about the night at the club.

"It was self-defense the owner had his goons readying their weapons against me." Yang explained

"And the broken glass?"

"Okay, so maybe I caused a bit of collateral." Yang admitted.

"That's not what the reports said. Ozpin muttered. He can't let his students know that he is able to watch them in the city from his office.

 **(Atlas Military R &D department)**

 **Around that time, Winter Schnee, Atlas specialist, and Weiss' older sister received a message to her Scroll.**

"Lesser of two evils I suppose." Weiss said.

"You should be fine." Penny said.

 **Deciding to check it on her way to the test hangar to defuse an ongoing situation, she opened the message from Weiss. Though the message was accompanied by gibberish text, which the stern young woman found odd. But not as odd as the picture that accompanied it. Weiss sitting on a bed with what looked like the most bizarre faunus Winter had ever seen. From Winter's perspective, it looked like Weiss was in some kind of distress with the faunus woman holding the younger Schnee in a comforting hug.**

"At least Winter is not jumping to conclusions." Weiss commented.

"… **What am I looking at?" Winter couldn't help voicing her confusion and worry. Now, the fact that Weiss was being hugged by a faunus isn't a problem, but rather the fact that this woman looked a little… promiscuous judging by her apparel. Although Winter know better than to judge a book by its cover.**

 **Unfortunately, this matter had to wait because Winter had reached the test hangar. Only for the door to open with one of the egg heads from the R &D department to storm out of fury.**

" **One day… One day we will make a mech that can beat her into submission." The researcher said as he stormed past Winter, not even acknowledging her presence.**

"How rude, ignoring a superior." Weiss didn't approve of the researcher's action.

"He's just mad that someone made a mech better than him." That what Nora got.

"For an Atlas researcher to have that kind reaction he must have seriously been outclassed by some other developer." Penny said. Some of the Atlas researcher were mad at her father for being able to create her. Although, her father didn't build her alone.

 **Not that Winter could blame the poor man. Ever since their… new recruit came here, she had been an enormous pain in all the researchers' collective asses. How? By destroying every prototype mech that was tested against her. And Winter is the unfortunate person to be responsible for her. Anyway, Winter entered the hangar to see one of the prototype mechs… or what was left of it. And standing over the wreckage was their "new recruit". This woman, who had somehow managed to become part of the Atlas military. Due to her… unique connection to Winter, was a relatively short woman with a brown military uniform… except said uniform missed parts from the top of her chest all the way to her crotch of what looked like bikini bottoms. This left most of the middle of her body exposed with the top barely covering the essentials from the side. The outfit also has blue glow around the edges that cover what little tan skin they do. The sleeves are normal, except they don't cover her armpits, but that's irrelevant. She wears thigh-high military boots that had flames coming out of the tops of them. Interesting enough, she has a circular blue crystal on her chest. on the top of her short black hair, is an officer's hat with a glowing diamond pattern in the middle of it. The woman's face is currently fixed in a disappointed frown, while fixing her large round glasses over her red eyes with one dainty hand.**

 **Though right now, Winter was staring at the woman's back which had a huge eye at the back of her head. That was definitely the weirdest part to Winter, right next to the giant muscular arms that floated on either side of this woman. The said arms had dark brown shoulder pads. From what looked like a military uniform with flames coming from beneath them. The arms themselves had no sleeves, but they had white gloves on the enormous hands with brown and red cuffs.**

The most viewers blushed at the unique, but rather exposed appearance of the Blade who was bonded to Winter. Ruby covered her face with her hood.

"Wow, that is one brolic chick and she makes military clothes sexy." Yang said, never expecting to see such a thing. She guessed Blade would make similar appearances possible. "I could probably do the same."

Apparently, no one heard her to comment. They were distracted by the Blade's appearance, more so than Dahlia. At least Dahlia had more covered up upon her awakening.

"COVER UP!" Weiss shouted after seeing an indecent appearance.

"It was said earlier that Blades can't choose their appearance." Luck said.

"Aside from the giant arms from the description, she can pass as a human." Pyrrha said. "Maybe she could wear clothes to cover up. Are there any other Blades that expose that much of their body?" She hoped to get a favorable answer.

"From all of my recorded data from Alrest, no unless new Blades come into existence. There may be new Blades in this reality viewing that do show that much." Luck said.

Not something most people are looking forward to.

Aside from Yang, Penny, and Nora who felt the least amount of shame, the others decided not to look at the screen for the rest of the chapter because of the Blade.

" **Newt." Winter called out, mustering every bit of her professional tone.**

 **The woman, now named Newt, instantly turned around before rushing in front of Winter and gave her an eager salute. "Specialist Schnee, I regret to inform you that the paladin couldn't withstand my attacks." Newt reported eagerly, but professionally.**

"At least can be professional despite her… appearance." Weiss said.

" **I can see that." Winter sighed as she glanced at the pile of scrap metal that used to be the said paladin. "How long did it take this time?" The specialist asked the Blade she had unfortunately awakened.**

"I believe that is implication that Specialist Schnee awaked a Blade before Weiss, but after Ruby." Penny said.

" **5 seconds to make it stop moving. 8 for total destruction." Newt said in what sounded like disappointed.**

"How is that something to be disappointed about? She practically set a world record that won't be broken." Nora said. If her weapon type was anything to go by, she to see destruction and explosions. Even she doubted that she could destroy one of those Atlas mechs in so little time.

That record for the paladin destruction was more than enough to state the potential destruction a Blade could do, especially if there is a consistent record.

"… **That's one second longer from the last test." Winter noted with a sigh. This kind of thing was exactly why the science team had come up with a new impossible standard, "Newt proof". A mech that could stand against Newt's impossible strength. "But I was under the impression that there was a situation that needed to be defused." Winter then said as she saw some of the scientist reviewing data from their test in a disappointed murmur.**

'Newt proof', the absolute step up from 'Nora proof'.

" **The situation was doctor Polendina snapping at me for asking to test the combat abilities of Penny." Newt replied easily. "But I was able to pacify him without violence."**

"I guess you father is very protective of you." Ruby said to Penny.

"He is." Penny responded. However, she had an idea why Newt wanted to test her if the destroyed paladin is anything to go by.

 **Winter sighed in relief at that. "That's good. We wouldn't want you to destroy all of our assets." Honestly, if Winter could travel in time, she would tell her past self not to touch the Crystal that Newt awakened from. It would save the specialist from a lot of headaches. "Tell, me, how would you like to visit Vale sometime?" Winter asked, as she now planned to ask for a leave to go see what kind of trouble her sister was in.**

" **Ooohhh!" Newt's eyes lit up like a kid who was promised an entire candy store. "Will we be using your private jet!?"**

"Tch, why not show the interior of the jet." Sure, not everyone could have nice things, but the elder Schnee having a private jet from her occupation and status as a Schnee made Nora feel like a peasant.

"Nora, none of that." Ren said with a sigh.

"… **If I get permission from the general, yes." Winter replied, rolling her eyes at Newt's enthusiasm. This Blade had a childlike eagerness, but can act professional when the situation calls for it. That is probably the only reason Winter was still sane.**

"That's because she essentially has her ideal Driver, a soldier with a considerably high rank." Luck said.

" **Oh… are you planning to visit your sister?" Say what they say about Newt, but she has proven to possess brawn** _ **and**_ **brain with that kind of deduction.**

" **Yes." Winter said simply.**

" **Any particular reason?" Newt asked, sounding a bit more serious.**

"… **Classified." Winter didn't want to admit the possibility of her sister seemingly having terrible taste on women. That, and she hadn't had Newt long enough for the specialist to consider the Blade a friend.**

Yang and Nora laughed at the implication that Winter might think that Weiss may be into other women after seeing that picture with Dahlia.

"Wha… I… No, it's not like that. I'm not attracted to older women!" Weiss denied the implication her sister came to think about. She never felt that way about any female.

"You sure? I'm sure professor Goodwitch wouldn't mind the interest." Yang teased Weiss.

"Ladies, I doubt Miss Goodwitch would stand for that kind of nonsense. Besides, student-teacher relationships is not a topic you want to go into." Ozpin said.

"Alright, I think we should take a short break for you all to cool off from this chapter if not solely for the Blades… and that implication at the end." Luck announced to everyone.

* * *

 **Yes, I stayed up past midnight to make edits. Tired.**

 **Luck's Blade sheet**

 **ATK Blade**

 **Element: Light**

 **Weapon type: dual blade**

 **Special lv1: Sonic Raid (Type = physical, range = single, Trust forward with separated blades and slash outward. Ignores buffs and debuffs. Hits twice.)**

 **Special lv2: Myriad Slashes (Type = ether, range = circle [AOE], Utilize light element on blades and slash enemies [similar to Mythra]. Hits up to five times.)**

 **Special lv3: Judgement descent (Type = Physical, range = single, Slash upward with a united blade and strike enemies on the way down with separated blades [altered name of Groh's technique in SC6]. Hits up to four times.)**

 **Special lv4: Chevalier Mal Fet (Type = Physical, range = single, Basically Groh's critical edge [how unoriginal], inflicts arts seal)**

 **Blade Arts**

 **1\. Debuff Cancel**

 **2\. Agility Up**

 **3\. Critical Up**

 **Battle Skills**

 **Unyielding Light lv 1: When under 50% health, raise dexterity and agility by 15%**

 **Serene Light lv 1: Clear an ally of negative ailments to enable rational thinking and recover 10% of life**

 **Soul Charge lv 1: User is temporarily enhanced for 20 seconds. Increases critical chance and critical damage by 15%. Effect is doubled at max affinity. (Skill initially locked. Can be unlocked by reading the first chapter.)**

 **Field skills**

 **Architect's Knowledge lv 1: Grants the same knowledge as the Architect. (This skill is already mastered)**

 **Leaping lv 1**

 **Focus lv 1**

 **Driver Arts**

 **Steel lv 1: Increase strength and defense for 10 seconds by 10% (Target = self, type = buff, cooldown = 12)**

 **Twin Cutter lv 1: Multiple slashes with separated blades in a spinning formation. (Type = physical, range = ahead, cooldown = 10, inflicts break)**

 **Rising Sun lv 1: Strike twice with a united blade. (Type = physical, range = single, cooldown = 9, inflicts launch)**

 **Impale lv 1: Thrust your united dual Blade forward. (Type = physical, range = single, cooldown = 6, increased damage on auto attack cancel)**

 **To earn trust level D: Must complete the first prologue**

 **As you may expect, Luck's skill expansion will be primarily dependent on story progression.**


	6. Prologue 2-2

**No, I don't consider this chapter late because it didn't have a deadline. The only chapters in this story that had deadlines I set were the first and previous chapters which I missed. The only deadline I met was the completion of Castlevania season 1 by December 1 of last year. Uploads are fast or slow. Consistent or not consistent.**

 **Irrelevant Notes: Had some job interviews and studying for an upcoming exam.**

 **Recently watched Kakegurui (Compulsive Gambler) since I heard the season 2 launched earlier this month. Never knew that you could sexualize gambling, but how come I haven't seen it crossed over with Kaiji which is another gambling anime? Teach those students about real consequences. I can also see it done with other shows that could have gambling associated with it in some way like No Game No Life or Phi Brain.**

 **Getting Travis Strikes again to support a possible NMH3. Which leads me to another thing with Suda 51. No decent Killer 7 fics on the sites I checked, not that I blame people. It was a lesser known game that people had difficulty trying to figure out. I'm one of those people. been in my house since it release, but never played it until 12 years later on my backwards compatible Wii.**

 **Patch Update 1.1: Due to my MS Office account from my college days expiring after about a year and a half since graduation, I chose not to pay for it again. After looking for new software to write with I settled with LibreOffice.**

 **Patch Update 1.11: Poll has been updated with a new description and two new options. I thank the one person who voted not to include anyone from Alrest. Thank you for sparing me.**

* * *

About three minutes has passed since the viewers saw Newt's rather revealing appearance. During that time, Luck thought if there truly was any Blade that has a similar appearance to Newt. The only one that came to mind was Zenobia. He doubted anyone would see her.

"If everyone is ready then proceed with the reading." Luck said.

 **Training and Approaching Doom**

Only 'doom' Weiss could think of would be her sister's reaction to her Blade in person.

 **Weiss always knew when she has people's attention. Something she learned from a young age, when people gave her empty compliments. However, this is the first time she felt people were staring at her for the same reason they star at Yang's chest… or rear. Anyway, the fact that those gazes weren't directed at Weiss herself didn't help at all.**

"They can see and get distracted, but they can't touch." Yang said with a smirk. Flaunting her assets is a strategy to distract male male and female opponents. The latter may cause mistakes due to jealousy. At one point, Yang thought that Pyrrha was unintentionally doing the same thing with her amazon champion attire. "It's a shame that you can't do the same Weiss."

"I'd rather not be gazed upon in such a way." Weiss denied. She rather not deal with the perverted gazes of others, but at the same time she was annoyed that people were staring in her general direction at her Blade rather than herself.

" **I didn't know the Schnee had a thing for busty faunus." Neither did the pathetic excuses of whispers. "Seriously, those things are huge!" Okay, that was a blatant shout.**

 **Which is also why Weiss felt like crawling under a rock now.**

Weiss frowned."Apparently being discreet about their thoughts is not a thing with other students." It would have been slightly better if they kept the thought to their selves. However, that still made her self concious about her body type.

" **Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asked carefully as team RWBY. Along with the two Blades were walking to the history class.**

" **I'm fine Ruby." Weiss responded through gritted teeth.**

" **Then why are you gritting your teeth?" Roze asked, causing Yang to cover her mouth to hide her snickering while Blake winced at the possible response from Weiss.**

" **Shut up, Roze." Weiss growled, quickening her pace.**

"Your not helping your case Weiss." Jaune said.

"...I know." Weiss responded.

 **Dahlia looked at her Driver in worry. "...Let's wait for her to cool down a little, okay everyone." The ice bunny said, afraid that her Driver was reaching a boiling point.**

" **You mean until she's Weiss cold again." Yang punned in an attempt to lift the mood.**

"Wouldn't want her to melt away." Yang said.

"Yang, do you know why your puns don't work aside from them being bad? You actually try." Ruby told her truth to her sister.

"People lay the ground work for me. How could I not?" Yang defended.

"Your puns aren't needed." Nora told Yang. "I can be a better entertainer than you without needing puns."

"How so?"

"Just living life my way." Nora answered.

That believable for Nora due to her eccentric personality.

" **Yang, this is serious." Blake said in annoyance at more than just the pun. Dahlia also looked highly unimpressed.**

" **Also isn't it ice cold?" Roze asked, causing Blake to face palm this time. His ignorance wasn't funny anymore. At least to Blake.**

"It would have eventually happened." Blake said.

"I still like it when Roze disrespects authority like Professor Goodwitch." Nora said. Some of the students, whether they thought so or not, did not show any indication of agreeing.

 **But Ruby is a different story. Or she would be, if the situation wasn't so serious. "I think Dahlia has a point." the red reaper said, still refusing to look at the Blade in question directly.**

" **Yeah." Blake said while pinching Yang's arm.**

" **OW! What was that for?" Yang complained while rubbing the spot.**

" **To stop you from commenting." Blake replied.**

 **That made Yang look offended. "I wasn't gonna say anything."**

"There's no proof that I would have said something." Yang complained.

"There's no proof that you wouldn't say something." Blake countered Yang.

 **All the while Dahlia looked at the quarrel. "...Are they really friends?" the ice bunny asked Roze who had been around longer than her.**

" **...Sometimes I wonder." Roze admitted with a shrug. "Still, I do wonder, why are these people obsessing over you?" The rose reaper then asked, referring to the people commenting on Dahlia.**

Everyone except Penny had a drop of sweat run down their heads. Yeah, Ruby is starting to become a bit more… aware of female body attraction because of Winter's Blade which also leads to Dahlia.

 **The said Blade had an incredulous look at Roze's words. "...Do you prefer men or women?" Dahlia asked blunty, but still somehow sounding carefully.**

" **...I don't understand the question." Roze replied with a confused look and a tilted head.**

"He's… unfortunately not joking." Weiss said.

"He really is like Ruby." Yang said.

"Hey!" Ruby cried out.

"Don't deny it. If I asked you the same question, you would reply with "weapons". I won't be surprised if you did date a weapon." Yang laid out the scenario.

"True I do like weapons, but I would date one." Ruby defended herself. "I like guys." She muttered the last part.

"What was that?"

"She said she likes guys." Blake and Penny said together.

"WHY!" Ruby cried out.

"Yes! Now I know a bit of your preference." Yang said excitingly while pumping her fist into the air. "Sorry if she is not into you Weiss."

"What?! There is no way that Ruby likes me like that!" Weiss shouted while blushing.

"You didn't deny that you like her." Yang teased the ice queen and her sister by extension.

Ruby and Weiss didn't want this conversation to continue. Regardless if continuing or abandoning the conversation, the end result goes in Yang's favor.

" **Dahlia stared at Roze's confused white eyes for a few seconds before laughing lightly. "You're just precious aren't you." The bunny Blade commented in mirth.**

"Similar to Ruby." Yang commented.

 **This only made Roze more confused, but that would have to wait because the gang had reached the classroom… at this point it should probably be noted that the Blades were also considered students in the sense that they didn't know about Remnant. So they were taking classes alongside their Drivers… with the exception of Adenine, who has studied enough history to be Oobleck's assistant.**

"Somewhat reasonable positions. However, the Blades may or will gain unwanted attention from the class." Ozpin said.

 **After another impossible task of following Ooblecks overly rapid teaching, the class was dismissed. Or… it would've been overly rapid, if Adenine hadn't been there to slow her Driver down. Surprisingly, Oobleck did as his Blade told him and slowed down somewhat. Something that all students were grateful about.**

"YES! THANK YOU ADENINE!" The Beacon students shouted out. While a few of them were able to keep up with Oobleck's speedy teaching, but they all wished for him to slow down. To them, Oobleck acted like he had 25 minutes to teach a class that is nearly an hour long.

"Perhaps you should lay off your 'special coffee.' to help slow down. You may maintain the attention of the students longer." Ozpin said to Oobleck.

Oobleck would consider it.

" **Miss Adenine is the best." Ruby said in relief as she and her team exited the classroom.**

" **I know, right." Yang said, even though history still isn't her favorite class.**

 **Blake was about to add her lien into this, but was interrupted by a shrill shriek that made the team, as well as any nearby person to turn to the culprit.**

"I think I got an idea to what might have happened." Weiss said.

 **Turns out it was Dahlia who had frozen stiff in her place with a horrified expression. "Y-you." Dahlia said to one of the male students who didn't acknowledge her and moved on with a cocky smirk. The team was still confused on what was going on until the ice Blade brought one of her bestial hands over her rear protectively.**

" **That pervert." Weiss seethed, just as she thought nothing would make her day worse.**

"How dare he do that to any woman." Weiss seethed. How do men have the audacity to do such a thing in public and in front of her other.

Ozpin frowned. He had received complaints from of female students who had been harassed by male students who happened to be on the same team as each other. While team issue do get resolved over time, there was still the occasional sexual harassment of female students every now and then. The offenders do get caught and punished to varying degrees.

"Off with the offenders hand." Nora said the violent punishment that had nothing to do with broken legs.

"Too far Nora." Ren said. He would rather deal with disfigurement caused by Nora than dismemberment.

"That guy probably only did it because he can't get any." Yang savagely said with a smirk.

"...I'm a bit inclined to believe that." Weiss said.

" **...No one does that to me or any other woman and gets away with it." Dahlia said in a tranquil tone before raising one of her hands. A ball of what looked like a compressed blizzard appeared on the palm before a set of saw blades appeared around the said ball in a cross shape.**

"A… bladed elemental ball." Weiss said with uncertainty. She can picture a ball of any kind to be a useful weapon.

"A rather odd weapon type to be given." Ozpin and Oobleck said together.

"It does have a bit of lethality to it." Penny said.

"I don't know how effective a ball would be." Pyrrha was curious on how a ball could be a weapon.

"I guess using it would be like playing extreme dodge ball, but it must suck to go and pick up the ball." Jaune said.

"Unless you know how to rebound the ball off your target and into your hands." Luck said.

" **What is that?" Ruby asked in worry. The girl would've been excited about the sight of a new weapon, if the said weapon wielder wasn't angry.**

" **It's a bitball." Roze replied as he observed Dahlia taking a throwing stance.**

 **Everyone DOWN!" Dahlia shouted as she threw the bitball. Thankfully most of the student population had their attention on the situation, so they were able to duck or dodge out of the projectile's path. All except the culprit who got hit by it on the back… With enough force to send him flying to the other end of the hallway, screaming all the way. *CRASH* Until he hit the wall. During this, the bitball had bounced back into Dahlia's palm. Before the Blade dismissed it with a huff. "What in the world made him believe that he could get away with that kind of behavior." Dahlia said feeling violated.**

 **The rest of the team was impressed by both her aim and power behind the throw.**

"She has awesome ball control and impressive power." Yang could admire that.

"I think that may be just enough for that offense, but I do think she could have done a bit more." Weiss said.

 **That is until Weiss realized something." Dahlia… am I supposed to use that oversized snowball-" "Bitball." Roze interrupted, earning a light growl of annoyance from Weiss. "-bitball in a fight?" Weiss reluctantly corrected.**

"Yeah, I don't think Weiss has the physical power or skill to use the bitball like Dahlia." Ruby said.

Weiss reluctantly agreed, but she feels that its something she could rectify by adjusting her training methods.

 **Dahlia gave her Driver a pitying look. "I take it you never used one before." the snowy bunny said in a sympathetic tone.**

 **In any other situation, Weiss would've taken that as an insult. But Dahlia wasn't looking down on her in any way, so… "...Yes." Weiss sighed in dismay.**

 **Dahlia smiled at her Driver kindly. "Then you'll just have to practice. Assuming you want me to assist in a fight." The last part was said with just a hint of worry.**

" **...I don't know." Weiss said, refusing to look Dahlia in the eye. "The only weapon I've ever used is Myrtenaster and it took me years to do that."**

"Assistance would be appreciated." Weiss said.

 **At that moment Ruby would decide to cut in."Come on Weiss, you have a cool new weapon to use. Can't you at least try it?" the red caped team leader was clearly more excited about this than Weiss is.**

"I bet she has plenty of cool abilities with that ball. I wonder what other types of weapons Blades use." Ruby said.

"There are 30 known possible weapon types a Blade could have." Luck informed Ruby. "In the reality we are viewing I believe that Roze has a completely new weapon type."

"Yes!" Ruby pumped her fist knowing that her Blade has an original Blade weapon even though it was based off Crescent Rose.

" **Well..." Weiss trailed off as she looked at Dahlia who had slightly dejected demeanor. "...I suppose I can try at least."**

" **Yay!" Ruby cheered. "We could have a sparring match, Driver versus Driver." the 15 year old girl seemed a little too eager for Weiss comfort.**

" **A spar would be the fastest way to learn. Besides, I'm sure Weiss would learn in no time." Roze added his opinion, making Weiss feel a lot better. "She's not stupid after all." And now the heoress wanted nothing more than to smash Roze's face in with Dahlia's bitball.**

"Just another reason for a spar." Weiss said. Roze's last statement was an unnecessary trigger for her.

" **...Yes, gladly. Once we've gone through professor Peach's class." Weiss said with a very evil look, already picturing the rose themed Blade as a bloody mess on the floor.**

"Whether you able to or not, you should try to conceal your intent a lot better. Doing so will help you in combat and when dealing with people in you daily life or social events." Luck told Weiss.

"I already know that." Weiss retorted.

"You sure? It seems like you were scheming to get on the same team as Pyrrha before initiation." Jaune said as he thought back on the moment when he tried to recruit Weiss.

"We were pretty much next to you at the time. You weren't exactly…-" "Discreet." Ozpin added to whatever Yang would say. "-discreet about your intention." Yang said about her and Ruby's perspective.

Weiss frowned at that, but she did admit to herself that she may have been obvious.

" _ **Aww… Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."**_ **Ruby thought in her head.**

 **The tone of this conversation wasn't lost on Dahlia. " _Poor Ruby"_ The ice Blade thought. " _All because Roze can't seem to understand the concept of tact."_**

"Yes, that may be a bit of a problem." Ozpin commented.

 **The tone wasn't lost on Blake or Yang either. "Should we be worried about this?" Blake whispered to Yang out of Ruby's and Weiss' hearing range.**

" **I'm sure it's fine." Yang whispered cheekily as the gang moved onto Peach's class.**

"Most of the time nothing serious happens in prologues. Things should be fine." Nora said

"Ruby was the exception." Ren said.

 **After the said professor's class, Ruby and Weiss were now in the arena for the sparing match. Of course, team JNPR had to come and watch.**

 **And Dahlia's appearance… still gave the expected reactions, despite this not being the first time they've seen her. Jaune was covering his eyes with an enormous blush. Pyrrha hid her faces with her hands. Ren turned his head away. Nora… she had already gotten used to Dahlia. Though the first time the orange haired hammerer saw Dahlia, she went on a tangent of questions of what the Blade eats to get a bust that big.**

"Nora?" The rest of team JNPR said the hammer girl's name with a questioning look. Other than that, they and everyone else is more acclimated to looking at Dahlia because of Newt.

"What? It's a good question." Nora said.

"It is, but we already know that she was awakened from a crystal. Her bust may as well be natural for her." Yang said with a hint of jealousy in the Blade made her feel a bit small.

 **But enough about past events. Right now, Dahlia was teaching Weiss the basics of wielding a bitball. The heiress… was convinced that the bitball was mocking her, by not bouncing when it was supposed to. Unfortunately, Dahlia explained that Weiss simply lacked the muscle power to wield a bitball effectively.**

 **Using Myrtenaster required precision and speed, meaning that during the her training with the said rapier, Weiss had almost completely foregone strength building.**

"Are you that physically weak Weiss?" Nora asked in a way that could possibly be taken as her mocking Weiss.

"Sorry if my choice of weapon requires more refined fighting style over the use of physical strength." Weiss scoffed.

" **I can't do this." Weiss said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Just attempting to throw the bitball was tiresome, never mind not being able to match Dahlia's surprising throwing strength. "This is impossible!"**

"Don't give up Weiss. I'm sure you'll be awesome if you learn that weapon." Ruby encouraged Weiss. "Uncle Qrow recommended me to learn a secondary weapon outside of Crescent Rose. Using a sword was completely foreign to me at first for over a month while I had an easier time with Crescent Rose. I couldn't shift my weight with a sword unlike my usual weapon so I needed extra time to learn." She explained.

"The only difference is that you had a choice to learn a new weapon while my other has to learn a particular Blade's weapon." Weiss replied.

" **Did you master Myrtenaster in one day?" Dahlia said sternly.**

" **That's not the same and you know it." Weiss retorted angrily. "I'm not meant to wield something like this! I-" *SLAP***

Everyone got caught off guard by Dahlia's slap.

"Slap the frustration out of her." Yang said.

"Excuse me!" Weiss did not like how Yang supported the scene of her getting slapped.

"That quitter talk and you don't need it." Nora said.

"Aside from this moment, there is another moment I'm sure both you or I could think of where you deserved to be slapped." Yang said.

Weiss rather not be slapped, ever. However, she can think of the particular moment or scene Yang was referring to, the search for Blake.

 **Everyone looked on in shock at the sound of Dahlia's palm impacting Weiss' face. "I'm sorry Weiss." Dahlia said, clearly not happy about her action. "But whining about what you can or can't do isn't going to help. We just have to build your strength to use bitball properly."**

Weiss could forgive Dahlia since she didn't like the idea of slapping her.

 **It was a valid argument, but Weiss wasn't able to think rationally right now. "What if it's simply not possible for me?" The white haired girl said in depression.**

 **That earned a sigh out of Dahlia, maybe they should save the sparring for another time. "Well, can you at least tell me about your glyphs?" Dahlia decided to ask in an attempt to change the subject. The literal bunny lady had been curious about Weiss' semblance ever since she heard it being mentioned offhandedly by her team.**

"Perhaps a bit of counseling from you Blade could offer an idea." Oobleck suggested.

Weiss thought on that. It's possible. At the same time, she felt like she already knew the answer, yet it's not coming to her. That's an embarrassment to herself.

 **As Weiss started explaining her glyphs, Ruby looked very distressed about Weiss' inability to wield a bitball. Roze had to wrap her into a one armed hug to prevent her from actually crying.**

The weapon is a lie. That is Ruby's version of the 'cake is a lie' meme. Her favorite weapon type would be a scythe with a sniper rifle as a close second. If she was forever unable to use Crescent Rose or both separate weapon types, she would be constantly frustrated and cry herself to sleep since that curse would be laid upon her.

 **In the seats, JNPR and BY of team RWBY had varying levels of worry for Weiss.**

" **...I never thought you could get a Blade who's weapon you can't use. Blake said in sympathy, while also wondering if she herself would get a Blade who's weapon she can't wield.**

"It took time for you all to become adept or master your weapons. Learning to use Blade weapons is no different, but I will admit that the bitball is a bit tricky to use." Luck told the Remnant viewers.

" **Yeah, I hear you." Yang added in, although she can't imagine herself not being able to wield any weapon. At least… anything that requires raw strength.**

 **Nora had an eager grin at a certain thought. "Hey, can Blades have hammers?"**

" **Nora." Ren butted in. "If Roze had a variation of Ruby's scythe then I wouldn't be surprised if they have hammers." Ren says that, but he was extremely afraid of the possibility of Nora getting a hammer Blade. Worse yet, what if said hammer Blade is more destructive and hyper than Nora. The black haired gunner trembled at the thought.**

Ren didn't show any indiction, but he did shiver in fear at the thought. Very frightening indeed. "There is no guarantee that you will get a hammer Blade because of the randomization, assuming your could awaken a Blade which I'm sure you could. Weiss didn't get a Blade that uses a rapier." Ren explained.

"Not that one exist yet." Luck added in.

"I'm sure the odds are in my favor. Otherwise, there will be judgement." Nora said with a savage grin.

 **Pyrrha… she had mixed feelings about Blades in general. While the idea of having a powerful weapon is appealing, she doesn't see a point in having a… person coming with them. Still… if that person became a good friend, then it would be nice.**

"I can appreciate that thought." Luck said.

Pyrrha just gave him a smile.

 **Jaune… he didn't even think he could be a Driver. That… and he wasn't sure what he would do if the Blade he somehow got was a girl… or a guy that would make him feel inadequate.**

Seeing his friends in action did make Jaune feel inadequate during the first semester. He eventually managed to ask Pyrrha combat help after the incident in Forever Fall. It is helping lessen the feeling of his inadequacy, but he felt like his current progress wasn't enough.

" **Saaay." Nora then said with a sing song voice. "Are those two sleeping in the same dorm as you guys?"**

 **It didn't take a genius to figure out what Nora was referring to. "Ozpin gave a dorm for Roze and any other Blade that we might get." Yang said, slightly relieved that there is no chance for Roze to share a bed with Ruby. Even if neither of them understand the implication of doing so.**

"Good." Yang muttered. While she is accepting of Roze, she won't approve of him or any other guy sleeping with Ruby.

"The student dorms are meant to house at most four students, a full team. It would be a problem for the students if more than four people were to reside in each dorm. Offering an unused dorm is a solution." Ozpin said.

"It would be problematic if we had to rearrange our room again to accommodate our Blades. "Weiss said.

" **Oohhh… What if they get busy in there?" Nora said with a devilish grin.**

" **Like you guys do?" Blake retorted with a smirk at the blushes that came from Nora, Pyrrha and Jaune. Ren only face palmed.**

"Two guys and two girls. Are you sure you guys don't do anything in your room?" Yang said with a playful grin earning the blushes from most of their neighbor team. Ren was the exception.

"NO!" Jaune and Pyrrha instantly denied.

"Of course not. We're better than that." Ren said.

"At least you students are controlling your urges." Ozpin said.

"This happened before?" Weiss asked in a surprising tone.

"There has been… a few incidents in Beacon's history." Oobleck cautiously said. "I can't speak for other academies. I can at least say that none were done as deviant acts." the eccentric professor clarified.

That did cause Weiss to relax. She was glad that she was part of an all girl team.

" **THAT'S IT!" was the shout that snapped the one and a half team to attention. Only to get a shocked of a lifetime as they saw Weiss hugging Dahlia. "I love you so much right now." The heiress said, weirding out everyone who knew the girl.**

"Sure your not into girls Weiss?" Yang asked to tease Weiss more.

"I'm not and I'm sure that is not in context of what my other is doing."

" **Don't thank me yet." Dahlia said while lightly stoking Weiss hair. "We still need to put that theory to the test.**

 **While that was happening, Yang decided to ask the question that was weighing down all of them. "Since when did the ice queen hug people?"**

 **Neither Blake or JNPR had any idea what to answer to that.**

"I do hug people. I hug my sister and… my mother." Weiss hesitated on her mother. It has been years since she last hugged her. Her mother's current state was because of her father. While she didn't hate her mother, she did wish that played more of a role in her life.

"Anyone else?" Ruby asked.

"Particularly not related to you." Yang added in.

"There is my butler Klein." Weiss answered.

Okay then, I guess hugging is not a normal occurrence for you." Yang said.

 **But none were more shocked than Ruby. "...What just happened?" Ruby wondered in slight jealousy. She was trying to get Weiss to warm, and now Dahlia does it seeming without effort.**

Ruby was jealous. She tried for a whole semester to get Weiss to warm up to the entire team and their group of friends. She had a bit of success during the time, but Dahlia appears and she got more of a reaction from Weiss in less than a day of her awakening.

" **It looks like they came up with something." Roze said, wondering what the two were planning. Especially now that Weiss was holding the bitball a lot more confidently.**

" **Ruby, lets have a sparring match now." Weiss said with her usual confidence.**

 **Something that Ruby didn't share. "Are you sure… I mean you were struggling with-" "Now." Weiss' stern tone that did not leave room for argument.**

" **O-okay." Ruby said meekly said. As she unfolded Roze's scythe, with the Blade himself preparing for battle.**

Sometimes Ruby felt that her presence as a team leader was being taken by Weiss, but she didn't mind at times.

" **Ruby, be careful Weiss might be new to this, but if they are confident in this then they must have thought of something." Roze warned his Driver.**

" **I know, okay." Ruby said weakly. Though at this point, our red reaper was more worried about Weiss possibly yelling at her.**

" **You ready for this Ruby?" Weiss asked as she reaied a certain app on her scroll.**

" **Ready when you are." Ruby said, taking a stance.**

 **As this happened, their remaining teammates have taken out their scrolls to watch Weiss' and Ruby's aura levels. They would've used the arena's big screen, but only the teachers have access to it.**

"As spectators, it kind of sucks that we got to divide out attention between the incoming fight and our scrolls." Jaune said.

"Fights are one thing, but it inconvenient for us since we don't have teacher access to the big screen." Nora complained.

 **However, just as Dahlia gave one last glance at her Driver, the signal that Weiss had prepared rang and the fight started.**

Battle Start!" Nora announced.

(Play XC2: Driver VS)

"I don't think that we took the time to actually listen to the music being played because because of what we've been reading." Penny said.

"Yeah, the music is good but we don't even know the names of the tracks." Ruby said.

There may be some tracks listed in the story, but the one I'm playing aren't there." Luck informed them. "Would anyone like a music list?" Luck asked everyone.

Jaune, Nora, Yang, Ruby, and Penny requested the music list and Luck sent them the data. "Listen to it on your own time. We got a spar to watch." Luck said.

 **Ruby started by dashing at Weiss who put her and Dahlia's plan in action. The heiress made a launching glyph in front of her before throwing Dahlia's bitball through it. Ruby barely ducked out of the way of the projectile that hit the wall with a crash. However, the red reaper only registered that Weiss didn't have a weapon anymore so she kept going.**

" **BALL COMING!" Except, Roze's shout made the girl turn around just in time to see the said projectile hitting her in the face on a return trip. Thankfull Ruby's aura protected her, but it still flopped her on her back.**

"That's should make up for my lack of physical strength."

"Back attack?! No fair!" Ruby whined.

"That's the neat trick of the bitball. When it hits its target or a surface the ball will always go back to its user." Luck informed them. "That why I said that the bitball is a tricky weapon."

"Is that so? I thought it was suspicious for Weiss to handle a ball like that." Yang said.

Weiss rolled her eyes at that.

 **All the while the projectile returned to Weiss's hand. "I take it all back, this is fun." Weiss told her Blade as she prepared to throw the ball though another launch glyph at downed Ruby.**

 **Thankfully, the red reaper got back up fast. But not before Weiss launched the ball again. "Not this time!" Except Roze blocked the attack this time.**

" **Thanks friend." Ruby cheered as she switched to range tactics. However, Weiss created a series of glyphs to launch herself to so that Ruby wouldn't be able to aim.**

 **Meanwhile, the audience was taking this all in. "Using her glyphs to give the ball the needed momentum that she herself can't provide."**

 **Pyrrha commented on Weiss using her glyph launching trick. "Pretty smart."**

"Thank you Pyrrha." Weiss commented.

" **And cheap." Nora grumbled. Contrary to popular belief, the orange haired hammerer wasn't born with the strength she uses to wield the hammer Magnhild. It took years for her to build up the strength that allowed her to wield the hammer easily without her semblance.**

" **Agreed." Yang said. "Plus Weiss attacked from behind. That's cowardly."**

"Coming from us 'brutes', that's saying something." Yang said.

"We can fix that with my training program. I'll build up your strength." Nora said enthusiastically with a bit of a sadistic tone.

Weiss see Ren shaking his head. "I respectively decline. Besides, I just covered two attacking options in one move. A front attack and a back attack. All it took were my glyphs and simple geometry.

"There some people that don't realize that covering multiple options increases the chances of victory." Penny said.

" **No, it's smart." Blake retorted as she watched when Ruby finally gotten to close quarters combat. However, Weiss was smart enough to keep Myrtenaster with her in case she didn't figure out how to use the bitball, which she used in conjunction with her dust mastery. To keep Ruby at bay.**

"At least I have Blake's support." Weiss said. She also wondered what types of dust she could use with the bitball despite it already having an affinity with ice.

" **Can Weiss keep up that kind of multitasking?" Ren asked aloud as Weiss managed to get some distance between herself and Ruby before firing the bitball again.**

" **Weiss is smart, I'm sure she can do that." Jaune said with confidence, even though he had no idea what he was talking about.**

 **Pyrrha frowned at this. "Jaune, Weiss is wielding a new weapon. And she is trying to incorporate it into her usual fighting style, you don't just do that on a whim." As if to prove Pyrrha's point, Weiss fored an energy shot from Myrtenaster in midair, right as the bitball returned to her, which she was too preoccupied to catch. So the heiress got hit by the ball and into the ground. To add insult to injury, Roze had activated Thorn Barrier which took Weiss' otherwise flawless shot giving the heiress' aura a small hit.**

Jaune sighed. "Point proven."

That comment was a bit careless, but I suppose I could thank you for the vote of confidence." Weiss said.

 **The only saving grace for Weiss was that she landed on her feet. And Dahlia caught the ball. "Weiss, do you mind if I take the lead for the moment?" The ice bunny asked the ice queen, as Ruby had stopped for a moment of worry.**

" **Sure, if you can." Weiss said in annoyance, while glaring at the innocent ball of deadly blizzard with equally deadly blades around it.**

"Miss Schnee, I sure Dahlia has the innate mastery of the bitball since it is her predetermined weapon. I'm sure that she could make better use of it than you at the moment." Ozpin said.

Weiss knew where headmaster Ozpin was going. Roze has the innate mastery of his weapon. Plus his weapon was very similar to Ruby's so her team leader had an easier time using a Blade weapon.

"Now we can see Dahlia use her weapon." Ruby said excitedly, even if she might be on the receiving end.

 **Satisfied with the answer, Dahlia raised one foot high as she prepared to throw. Which made Ruby quickly use her speed semblance to make sure Dahlia wouldn't hit her. Unfortunately, that didn't stop Dahlia from throwing the ball in the area she guessed Ruby would go to. And it l** **ooks like her guess was right. However, Roze managed to get in and blocked it with a barrier… or he was trying to, but the barrier only held the attack for an instant before breaking.** **Which made the ball hit him, and by proxy, Ruby in an explosion of ice and snow.**

"WHAT!?" Ruby shouted when the saw the universal Blade shield fail.

"I sure we'll get an explanation from the story Miss Rose. If not then our guide will inform us." Oobleck said.

(OST end)

 **As Ruby and Roze both shivered with cold, Dahlia had a perplexed look. "Did Roze seriously think that a regular block was enough against my Crystal Blizzard?"**

"That is a Blade Special?" Weiss asked a bit confused.

"It is." Luck answered.

"Aside from the icy explosion, the special is pretty much a pitcher throw." Jaune said. He was a bit unimpressed like a few other students.

"Think of it like this: the flashier the move, the stronger it is." Luck said.

"I can agree with that." Yang said. She was one for flashy and stylish moves. "By that logic Dahlia's Special would be level 1. Nowhere close of a level 2."

" **RUBY!" Yang cried out in worry as she jumped down to the arena and dashed to Ruby's side. Ruby's aura had only dropped to 40 percent, but it looked like the cold had gotten to her.**

" **Y-Yang! I-I'm ok-k-k-k-kay." Ruby tried to say through chattering teeth. "Wh-why is it so cold?" Ruby whined, wrapping her cape around herself for extra warmth.**

"What is the coldest region in your world?" Luck asked the Remnans. "The answer should give you an idea."

"The continent Solitas, especially areas outside of Atlas with outdated technology or no technology." Weiss answered getting a nod of agreement from Penny.

"How can people live in such cold whether?" Ruby asked.

"You get used to it."

" **Wind Blades like me are weak against ice." Roze said as he slowly got up, recovering from the direct hit. "I should've saved Thorn Barrier." Although, Roze wasn't even sure if that art could block an attack that strong. There is a limit after all.**

Great, elemental weaknesses.

" **But why is Ruby shivering then?" Yang demanded accusingly as she pressed Ruby against her, wincing at the cold she felt from her baby sister.**

" **Blades share their weakness with their Drivers." Roze explained as he glared at a guilty looking Dahlia. "But it's my fault for trying to block a Special Art. That's what it was, right?" Roze said, directing the last one to Dahlia.**

 **The said Blade nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Crystal Blizzard is my level 1 special."**

"Special confirmed, but it kinda sucks that has to feel the same thing as Roze and his shield can't hold up against it.." Yang said.

"The concept is similar to the CCT towers. If one goes down, then the other will go down. Its a bit poetic." Ozpin said.

 **That information got Team RWBY to widen their eyes. "WHAT!?" They still remembered how Roze took down Russel with a level 3 special and that did about the same damage as Dahlia's level 1 special. So unless Russel had much more aura than Ruby, which he didn't, this shouldn't be possible.**

" **Are you telling me that your stronger than Roze?" Weiss piped up. Glancing between the busty bunny lady and the rose themed reaper in disbelief. Weiss knew by now, that she shouldn't judge by appearance, but this was still a little weird thought.**

" **NO!" Roze shouted a bit more forcefully than anyone than anyone was used to. "I may be weak to ice, but Dahlia is also weak against me.." Roze said defensively.**

" **Yang gave the male Blade a mock pitying look. "I didn't take you for a sexist."**

" **WHAT!?"**

"Ignoring that claim, it is true that both Blades can directly hit each others weakness. Given their weapon types and roles, Roze is more likely to win in a one-on-one fight. That's not assuming whether or not they are at full potential. Generally speaking, bitball users aren't strong. There is one oulier and if I were to make a top 10 list based on combat effectiveness, the outlier would at least be happy to see that she is close to the top 10. Most of that top 10 consist of female Blades." Luck explained.

"I see." Everyone said.

" **Really? Getting worked up over losing to a girl." Nora snickered from the stands. "At least make up something believable."**

"Makes him seem weak, but at least he is several steps up from Cardin." Nora said while snickering.

" **He's telling the truth." Dahlia said, before Roze or anyone else said something to make this worse. "Ice and wind are weak against each other, but they also complement each other." The ice Blade explained as the others gave her a disbelieving look. "in other words, if Weiss had taken a level 1 attack from Roze, the result would've probably been the same." Dahlia finished which gave everyone, especially Weiss a very terrifying thought.**

" **Y-you mean," Blake stammered, "if Roze used his level 3 special, Weiss could've died." And now Weiss was very afraid.**

That put some fear into the students.

"Perhaps we should reconsider attaining Blades once they become known and available. As well as some safety measures regarding student combat." Ozpin said.

" **...I don't know about dying but her aura would've taken a lot more damage than Ruby's did." Dahlia said, realizing what she had unintentionally caused.**

" **...I wouldn't have gone too far." Roze said a lot calmer now, but sadly that didn't pacify anyone. Least of all Weiss, who thought Roze sounded like he would've wanted the opposite.**

"Unintentional and unnecessary fuel to the fire." Blake commented.

" **Roze." Dahlia said sternly. "Don't take one loss so seriously."**

" **I'm not." Roze grumbled sounding a lot more childish than he probably intended.**

" **Umm… Yes you are." Ruby said weakly, already feeling a lot warmer thanks to Yang.**

" **...Ruby...please." Roze pleaded his Driver. "I just… don't want to think about it right now."**

"… **Sorry." Ruby said, now thinking this was her fault.**

"Is he seriously hurt by that loss?" Weiss questioned the Blades behavior.

"… I don't know." Ruby said. "It could be something else."

 **Roze fixed the red caped girl with a worried glance. "You? I'm the one who should be ashamed."**

 **The last remark earned a curious look. Which switched to a sigh from Yang. "Look, Roze. I get that you don't like losing, but you just have to learn from your-" "There's no chance for that in real combat!" With those words, Roze stormed away.**

"First of all, Yang trying to give advice to some is such a strange sight." Weiss said.

"I'm good at giving advice." Yang defended herself.

"But do you listen to advice given to you?" Weiss asked to trap Yang.

"...Yes."

"But you ignore some of the advice Professor Goodwitch gives to improve your combat skills."

"My strategy works just fine."

"Your predictable." Weiss said in a flat tone. "Only reason you win most of your spars is only because your presence puts some amount of fear into people." Weiss explained. "Secondly, it seems the reason why Roze is taking this loss seriously is because he treating the spar as a true combat situation."

"There is no need for that given the participants and location there is no need for him to worry. Had this been an actual combat situation, Miss Rose could have suffered a fatal injury or worse." Ozpin completed thought which was a mistake since it put fear into his youngest student.

 **All the while everyone else had a mixture of confusion and annoyance or worry on their faces. "What in the world is wrong with him?" Weiss questioned, annoyed at the Blade taking a loss so seriously.**

" **You're one to talk." Blake couldn't help remarking as she joined her teammates in the arena alongside team JNPR.**

" **What's that supposed to mean." Weiss demanded icily.**

"Unless you're a perfectionist, then there is no need and he isn't one." Blake said.

 **Blake smiled a little at that question. "This reminds me of the first few days as team RWBY."**

" **Can we please forget that already." Weiss pleaded while covering her face with her hands. Those days still made her feel horrible.**

Even Ruby and Jaune were reminded of their horrible start at Beacon.

 **Jaune in an effort to redirect this conversation spoke up. "...Shouldn't we try and figure out a way to help Roze?"**

 **Ren shook his head at the suggestion. "I think we should leave him alone for now."**

" **Yes." Dahlia agreed before adopting a sympathetic expression. "After all, we need to get him to understand that training matches are not real combat yet."**

 **Pyrrha was the first to figure out what the female Blade was implying. "You mean… Roze felt like he failed real combat?"**

" **As Ruby's Blade, he must've felt that he failed. So yes." Dahlia said with a sigh. "It's not his fault though, trying to use a regular barrier against a special art was hopeless to begin with.**

"… **Well… at least he takes his job seriously." Pyrrha said in an attempt to find a silver lining.**

" **Too seriously." Yang said, although she had different reasons than what the others were thinking right now.**

"It great to know that Roze and potentially any other Blade would take the protection of their Driver seriously." Ozpin said.

"But it seems… suffocating." Blake said.

"Had Roze been my Blade, it be as if I never left home. Bobyguards within my vicinity during social events, concerts, or just a leisure venture outside my home. It was suffocating and restricting." That was just another reason why Weiss chose to attend Beacon Academy over Atlas Academy.

" **...Yang." Ruby piped up, still in Yang's embrace. "You can let go now. I'm warm again."**

" **...Nope." Yang tighten the hug.**

" **YAAAANG!" And with that little whine, whatever tension anyone had was broken as everyone started laughing at Ruby's misery. Some more than others.**

"That hug was more than enough Yang." Ruby said through her embarressment.

"Warming you up is one thing, but it doesn't excuse you from my hugs." Yang proceeded to hug her baby sister who struggled to get free. "Besides, I'm more or less you legal guardian at Beacon when where away from dad. It's my responsibility to look after you as your sister and teammate."

Seeing nothing wrong with whats happening at the moment Weiss continued to read.

 **Around the same time as Ruby and the company had this little episode. Winter was asked to be seen by the Atlas military general, James Ironwood, about her request to leave.**

Atlas time then.

" **This crisis you are talking about." Ironwood started with a calculating look towards one of his best subordinates. "You claim it to be important family business, yet you refuse to discloses the details."**

"From what we've seen from Dahlia so far, I doubt a crisis will fall upon me. I just have to deal with misunderstandings." Weiss said.

"You should be fine." The rest of her team, team JNPR, and Penny said.

 **Winter knew that asking for a leave was next to impossible, but she had to try. If only to confirm that some of her more… irrational worries were unfounded. Besides, if she called Weiss, not only would the older Schnee risk doing so during school hours, she was pretty sure Weiss wouldn't talk about it on a scroll. So here she was standing stiff like a proper soldier, hoping to convince the general. "The details of this matter are… personal." Winter explained calmly and professionally. "I'm afraid I cannot divulge any of the details, even if I had all the facts."**

Yang let go off Ruby who celebrated her freedom from Yang's embrace. "She does have the right to worry. She is even going out of her way to personally come to you."

"I suppose so." Weiss agreed. She took joy in the fact that Winter would personally see her despite the reason why.

 **The general sighed at the response. "Very well, but surely you can make a quick visit to the Schnee manor for a few minutes without a leave."**

 **Winter raised an eyebrow at the response. "Sir I'm not asking to leave to visit the manor." The slight change in her tone at the word manor wasn't lost to Ironwood.**

For what reason why should Winter visit the manor? She is not a fan of her father, much like Weiss.

" **...So you wish to visit Beacon." Ironwood deduced easily, surprising Winter. "Don't look so surprised, it isn't hard to figure out what family crisis you want to deal with that doesn't involve you father." Of course, the general was also aware of the only son of the Schnee family, but from what he understood, Winter doesn't care for him.**

"Why not? Aren't they close?" Penny asked about the Schnee family relations.

"Not really. He is a mini version of father. That is why Winter and I hardly associate with him." Weiss answered. "Father is certainly... not a good role model." Weiss tried to not reveal too much information on her father's parentage. "I always had Winter to support me while father had his influence on Whitley."

"I guess you shut your brother out of your little pact with your sister. Was that for the best?" Luck questioned the Schnee. "Maybe shutting him out could be why he is similar to your father, as you say."

"...I like to think it was the right choice." Weiss hesitantly said. "Perhaps… shutting him out led him to be like father." Maybe it was the wrong choice. Maybe it wasn't. All she knows is that her father, as an authoritarian parent, has a hold on Whitley and is molding him in his image.

" **...You are correct." Winter admitted. "It has come to my attention that my sister might have a little… problem on her hands, one that I doubt the headmaster can deal with."**

"So I have yet to inform James about the Blades at Beacon." Ozpin muttered. This leaves potential on how to explain the existence of Blades on Remnant, but how long will any explanation last? Blades seems to have fixed knowledge on where they come from which may shatter the veil of a lie.

 **Ironwood shook his head at the explanation of the nature of Winter's plans as well as why she didn't contact the headmaster about. "As I recall, you were schedule to assist some of Vale's huntsmen in a Grimm extermination mission next week. Ironwood said.**

 **This earned a raised eyebrow from Winter. The general gave her that assignment himself, so he should know the answer. "That's correct, sir."**

"Yes!. A convenient excuse." Weiss cheered, but she realized that she was in the presence of others. She embarrassed herself. She cleared her throat. "I mean, he has been graced with the opportunity to finish her work early."

"So transparent." Everyone else said. Weiss ignored their comment.

 **Ironwood smiled at the response. "Good. In that case, I think I won't need you back here immediately." The general said, which made Winter steel herself to prevent even a spark of hope showing on her face. "I believe… two days should suffice." The general told Winter who couldn't believe her luck. "Although..." And now Winter was worried. "I need you to take Newt with you."**

 **That surprised Winter, she may have planned to take her Blade anyway., but she was still surprised at Ironwood basically ordering her to do that. "Sir?"**

" **I believe our scientists and recruits deserve a break from her." The general said with a small amused smile.**

"They are just relocating their troubles temporarily." Pyrrha said.

"Great, the indecent Blade is coming." The mood for Weiss.

"Aside from the massive floating arms above her, the Blade's figure hardly different from us. She passes for human." Yang said

"It would be a major improvement for her to wear actual clothes." Weiss said with everyone's nod of approval. Hopefully a case of public indecency could be avoided.

 **Unfortunately, the explanation made all too much sense for Winter. Not only has Newt created an impossible standard for the Atlesian machines, but she was also put in charge of pysically training newer recruits… and… well, while the traniees cam out stronger than usual. Physically, some of them needed to be put into hospitals for overexertion as well as psychiatric wards for a time. Thankfully Ironwood and Winter managed to get the passionate Blade to go easy on their men and women. Or… what constitutes as "easy" for the insanely strong Blade. "...I see. Thank you sir." Winter thanked hesitantly, remembering one time a new recruit bawled his eyes out, begging for Winter or anyone to save him from the "psychotic slave driver". "But how am I going to explain her to the people?" Winter then asked, seeing as the Blades were a secret in Atlas.**

"Soon to find out they they are not much of a secret as you might think they are." Jaune said.

"I'll take on her training. My training methods will improve to destroy mechs like she can." Nora said with a devilish smile.

"NORA NO!" Ren shouted out. He took a deep breath before speaking. "You are plenty strong enough and you could do the same thing she can." When translated he said 'You will kill anyone and everyone faster than by doing that and I don't want anyone responsible for it'.

"Mmmm okay." Nora agreed.

Ren had just stopped a tragedy.

" **You don't have to." Ironwood replied. "The Blades are common knowledge in Vale. Or at least at Beacon." The distaste at the possible dangerous weaopons being public knowledge was clear in Ironwood voice.**

"Well, our power depends on our bond with our respective Driver. Sure, some of use could be dangerous right off the bat, but if you want to see how powerful and dangerous we could possibly be then let each Driver bring out the maximum potential of their Blades." Luck said.

Ruby and Weiss thought on that. Only can develop their Blades to be insanely powerful, but they can also ensure that nothing gets out of hand with them. They could manage that to some degree.

" **Is the headmaster insane?" Winter asked, before she could stop herself. At the raised eyebrow of her superior however, the specialist calmed down with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, sir. It's not my place to judge."**

" **It's fine Winter." Ironwood said, dropping the professionalism for a moment. "I agree with you on that, but according to Ozpin, an incident involving a Blade happened. One which they were unable to cover up."**

No one wanted the reminder.

" **What kind of incident?" Winter asked, getting interested, before a certain thought occurred to her. "Did one of the students awaken a Blade!?" Ironwood answered with a nod which alarmed Winter. "Was it Weiss?"**

"No the student in question, but she did awaken a Blade." Ozpin commented.

" **Ozpin didn't say." Ironwood admitted. "But now that you said it, is this the crisis you plan to deal with?"**

" **I- I." Poor Winter couldn't help stammering. Until now, it didn't even cross her mind that the bizzare well endowed faunus woman could be a Blade. But now… it made so much sense. But it still raised a question, how did Weiss get her hands on a Core Crystal?**

"I guess the news of my 'discovery' didn't reach her." Oobleck said.

" **It doesn't matter." Ironwood said, cutting Winter's train of thought. "As far as I'm concerned, you and Newt have a two day leave after assisting Vale's huntsmen. Is that clear?"**

" **Clear as day sir." Winter said, still dumbfounded at her little realization.**

" **Then you are dismissed." Ironwood said, finding some amusement at Winter's expression. Contrary to popular belief, James Ironwood is a human with thoughts, feelings and a sense of humor. His brain is not a robot brain fueled by a massive ego and an obsession with control… most of the time.**

"Qrow would sat otherwise." Ozpin muttered.

 **Anyway, with those words, Winter excused herself, still thinking about how Weiss could've possibly gotten herself a Blade that looks like something out of a weird faunus fantasy.**

Weiss and Blake didn't know what to say to that. They know there is a bit of truth in that description, but it still triggered Blake a bit. However, Blake didn't think that Winter could possibly be racist despite how her thought could be taken.

" **How did it go?" Asked an overly anxious Newt, who had been waiting outside Ironwood's office.**

" **Next week we will be going to Vale and spend two days at Beacon after a mission I've been assigned to." Winter said tiredly.**

" **Oohhh. That means you get to use my power." Newt said, already picturing a mountain of Grimm corpses left in their wake. Even as she walked to follow Winter who never stopped her stride.**

"I doubt Winter would like to cause similar destruction like her with whatever weapon she has, even if its against Grimm." Weiss couldn't picture her sister using whatever barbaric weapon her Blade has.

"If Newt could destroy mechs in about 8 seconds then she could kill Grimm in even less." Nora said. "There gives her more time to visit you."

" **Newt, can you please be quiet for a moment?" It took every ounce of Winter's now tired mind not to sound like she was begging.**

 **Thankfully Newt got the hint, doing a zipping motion across her mouth with one of her giant arms mimicking the motion.**

 **For some reason, Winter felt tired. A lot more tired than she should feel. " _Maybe I'm stressed."_ The Schnee woman said as she decided to go to her quarters. Which Winter shared with Newt, much to the specialist's chargin.**

No one could imagine what it would be like living with Newt.

"She doesn't have to deal with her hair turning gray from stress. Her hair is already white, but she will have to deal with early facial linings." Yang said.

"I sure my sister could overcome her situation." Weiss said. "Looks like we will have a week time skip next chapter."

* * *

 **I think that after I finish this prologue I would do a chapter for Castlevania or something else.**


	7. Prologue 2-3

**There is actually a lot more that I want to say regarding what happened earlier in January, but I will cut that out.**

 **Shout out to Guestspirit for helping me get through this chapter in my unmotivated and salty state** (yes, I primarily wrote this when I was salty) **via pestering me. It worked. It like I got a secretary that I didn't ask for. You can keep on doing that if you want, but you ain't getting paid for it.**

 **I'll get that Castlevania chapter when I can. Other thoughts on possible stories will be listed below in there alpha state since there is little to no planning at all. Your free to take them of my hands if you want. These are just things I would like to see done if possible.**

* * *

"We're at the end of my prologue." Weiss said as she read the title.

 **Meet the Family**

"Series premier of Meet the Schnees only on the Vox channel at 6 pm." Yang announced.

"I don't think it would be a good sitcom if one at all. Ratings are gonna suck." Nora gave her review before the series premier.

"Silence you two." Weiss told them. They listened.

If Weiss did have her own show, it would definitely not be a sitcom. A drama perhaps.

 **It had been about a week since Dahlia joined team RWBY, and the team has finally gotten used to her for the most part. Although, Yang still has episodes of feeling inadequate as a woman, even though she knew that it's not about what you have, it's how you use them. Still, part of her couldn't help but pray to have a bigger pair.**

"Like Dahlia said, it's okay to wish." Yang said.

"Do you really find any use for your oversized chest?" Weiss asked in a deadpan tone.

"They work for distractions. They why I flaunt them."

"Until it doesn't work or if dad finds out." Ruby said. She seen Yang do this during her last year at Signal Academy. Some guys did use spars as an excuse to grab hold of Yang's chest which landed her a free win most of the time, the exceptions were just unfazed by Yang. When dad found out, he punished the guys who laid their hands on his daughter and Yang for putting herself out there with such a tactic.

"I don't regret it. I just wish dad wouldn't make a big deal out of it even with the length of the punishments." Yang scratched the back of her head.

 **Physique aside, Dahlia is very nice. A clear contrast to Weiss. Something that the other girls still pointed out. Though even Weiss had to admit that Dahlia is… tolerable to say the least. Evidenced by the fact the heiress actually went and did something that made the rest of team RWBY laugh their heads off.**

"Can you ever be honest?" Nora asked Weiss.

"Yes."

"Doesn't seem like it right now." Then Nora went to the other important matter to her. "I wonder what you could have said that was funny?"

 **Anyway, the classes were over for the day and the team had decided to take a walk around Vale. Each with a different reason.**

 **For Ruby… she wanted parts to rebuild Crescent Rose. Despite having Roze, she still felt compelled to rebuild her baby. To Yang's amusement, Roze looked a little jealous when Ruby talked about her first weapon with clear affection.**

"Yes, I must rebuild or upgrade my baby so she never EVER breaks." Ruby said. She may have seen the scene only once, but that was enough for her to not take her chances by not upgrading her Crescent Rose.

"Careful Ruby, you wouldn't want to make a living weapon jealous. Especially one that looks like us and can do things similar to us." Yang said. While it may be possible for Ruby or anyone to date a living weapon now in the other reality, she won't approve of Roze just yet even though she was cool with him. She or any other reader don't know enough about him specifically other than him being male Ruby.

Ruby thought on that. While she could never replace Crescent Rose she does now realize that she can now live her secret fanfictions about weapons. That brought just as much dread for her as it did joy. She knew teasing was coming her way, but she hoped her weapon fanfictions do not get revealed.

 **Anyway, for Weiss… she had decided that Dahlia would need clothes, much to the ice Blade's confusion. "What's wrong with my clothes?" was the question that came out of her, and didn't feel like explaining the concept of "public decency". At least, not without feeling insanely awkward for having to explain it to a woman that looked older than her.**

"Very awkward unless Weiss was somehow older than she looks. Still awkward for having to explain to a mature looking woman." Penny said.

 **Blake wanted to buy a new book she had been waiting for. Of course, Yang had to accuse her of it being a smut book. Which Blake denied, as usual.**

Unnecessarily bringing forth a feud that should not be relevant towards everyone's current activity.

There are cameras in most areas of the school. Ozpin just happen to know what book is being referred to as Ms. Belladonna's reading material. "While Ms. Belladonna's reading material is questionable due to its general classification, it is still a form of art. Of course, its not something I encourage to read."

That raised some questions from his students. While they know she has direct access to Beacon security to know what the student debate is among the members of team RWBY, why did he say what he said? Did he at some point read the same book Blake read? If so then why? How could he consider such a book as art despite knowing it's a smut?

That line of questioning has little to nothing to do with the story so there is no use trying to pursue it.

 **Yang herself… she didn't have anything better to do.**

 **Anyway, right now, Weiss was in a clothing store with Dahlia. Sadly… it seemed like none of the clothes fit the busty Blade. Surprisingly, the bust was part of the reason. The bigger problem was that she can't put pants on because of the claws that act as high heels get in the way when she tried to put them on. And when someone suggested clipping them… Dahlia looked so horrified that Weiss had to try and comfort her. So instead, they were trying skirts, but it seemed that no matter what they tried, none of them looked good on her. Anyway, Dahlia's impressive bust did get in the way when she had to try some of the shirts, tops, etc. With anything that had long sleeves, her hands barely fit through, and the sleeves themselves felt tight around forearms because of her fur.**

 **And that's not even counting the last and what should have been the most obvious of the problems. "This skirt is pressing against my tail like all the others." Dahlia complained in clear discomfort as she tried to move the offending cloth upwards. Only for it to slide back down.**

Weiss sighed at the sight. "A wasted trip then. I guess maybe Dahlia is the exception to humanoid Blades that can't wear clothes."

"There may be some Blade unknown to in this reality that could fit in the same category. I suppose you should get used to Blades appearing the way they are." Luck said.

 **Weiss sighed at that. "I should have realized that." The heiress of the Schnee company lamented. Unfortunately, this particular store doesn't sell clothes that accommodate faunus of any kind. In fact, if Weiss wasn't a Schnee, the store wouldn't have let Dahlia in for being a "filthy animal". That's not even counting the fact that a police officer stopped them earlier, thinking Dahlia was a… "paid escort". Something that irritated Weiss, and Dahlia to a lesser extent, surprisingly.**

"I probably should have taken that into consideration." Weiss said.

"...I think the second part could get a pass, but the first one can't. There are even some stores that are open to faunus yet don't sell products that designed for them." In Blake's opinion, that was more messed up than not letting faunus into businesses as consumers.

"Simply dreadful. The ignorance of the people is what gives rise to unnecessary conflict. Yet, we cannot control the beliefs and mannerisms of other people. From a business standpoint, why would you wants to reject money from faunus? Its the exact same currency we all use. Refusing to sell to a particular group of people could end up being the reason why a business could shut down. Refusing customers and a possible lack of sales in the long term lifespan of a business." Oobleck explained. While he is not as well-versed in economical and business practices like he is in archaeology and history, but he can see how the effects of those practices can cement their place in history. Plus there is the fact that inter-species marriage between humans and faunus is likely to result in the potential offspring bearing physical faunus traits. At some point, business are going to have to learn to serve faunus if they haven't before.

" **I still don't understand what's wrong with my appearance. I'm a Blade, we don't always appear like humans think." Dahlia said as she had enough of the torture on the small tuft of fur on her back.**

" **Blades are new to Remnant." Weiss said patiently. "Not everyone can understand that." Then the heiress felt a little guilty for what she was going to say next. "The fact that people think your a faunus doesn't help either."**

"Even without knowing that Dahlia is a Blade, how can people come to the conclusion that she is a faunus? It's a known fact, even through scientific study, that all faunus bear one extra feature to differ from humans." Blake said.

"It is indeed true Miss Belladonna." Oobleck said." Faunus have always been known to bear one animal-like trait alongside their very similar human biology such as extra ears, horns, or claws. There has never been on recorded instance where a single faunus has more than one animal-like trait. While it is a possibility, it is unlikely that any faunus would display multiple animal-like features, even by mutation. When common people just nonhuman features they will just associate part of what they know." Oobleck elaborated on the contradiction.

One similarity and people will irresponsibly associate two points together regardless if they know or are ignorant to the contradictions.

 **That made Dahlia frown. "Blake mentioned that humans and faunus have a bad history with each other." Then the woman came closer to Weiss. "It's also my understanding that… your family uses them as cheap labor." It was clear that Dahlia didn't like pointing that out, but she also didn't like the possibility of it being true.**

 **Weiss looked around the store to see is anyone heard what Dahlia said. Thankfully it looked like the workers, as well as the other customers were trying to stay away from them. "...Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Weiss asked with a down cast look. The topic of her family's… controversy is a very sore topic for her after all.**

"Please do or find a different topic to discuss." Weiss said with a pained look. She rather not discuss anything in regards to the current SDC leadership and practices. She would not show such a look if she was in a professional environment or was supposed to maintain a public image to not negatively affect the SDC or rather her father.

 **Understanding that much, Dahlia agreed. And with that, the two exited the store.**

" **Finally it left." One of the workers said in annoyance at having to tolerate a faunus.**

" **Why isn't the government doing anything? Everyone knows that the creatures of Grimm are harmless compared to those freaks." Another complained.**

 **Thankfully, Dahlia and Weiss couldn't hear them anymore.**

"...What?!" Was everyone's response with Blake's voice being the most vocal.

"Are those people delusional?" Nora asked the question for everyone out of surprise.

"I fail to see how faunus could be more dangerous than Grimm. It true that both humans and faunus can potentially be a great danger to themselves, but at least the possibility of talking and reasoning exist between them unlike Grimm. Grimm can not be reasoned, but some of them possess intelligence and those Grimm can lead other groups of Grimm in the path of destruction which makes them a lifelong threat for all humans and faunus throughout history." Penny explained her reasoning.

"It seems people would rather take there chances being near Grimm rather than faunus and they believe that the government supports their beliefs." Luck observed. "Maybe the some if not of the government in Vale supports the viewpoint of the citizens. Only the foolish in power will guide the fools and support their foolish views. Disregarding your potential defenders may assist in the fall of a nation."

The fall of a nation, a kingdom. That event will surely turn over most if not all people on Remnant. It could possibly mean the fall of other kingdoms if one were to fall.

 **Few minutes later, Dahlia and Weiss find themselves in a cafe. Thankfully, this establishment is faunus friendly. Although the owner was a little hesitant to let Dahlia in due to her… appearance. Thankfully it didn't take too much to convince that Dahlia is no trouble for anyone. Though Weiss had to wonder… since the world of Alrest, where all the Blades supposedly come from, has had a Blade for ages, does that mean that people can dress however they want without any consequences? Or are Blades simply exempt from any kind of dress code?**

"The latter is true compared to the former." Luck said.

"Yes, we been over this." Weiss replied.

" **So..." Dahlia started as she sipped on the tea she ordered, while Weiss had coffee. "Before you start again, I want you to know that I won't force you if you don't feel like talking." Dahlia said with a sincere look.**

 **Weiss appreciated the sentiment. "Thank you, but I'm fine." But she wasn't going to stop now. "As you know, I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. The largest producer of energy propellant in the world." Weiss began her explanation before frowning. "However… as you may have guessed, my father… he has been operating in the moral gray area to gain profit."**

 **Dahlia nodded with a frown. "The way you say it gives me the impression it hasn't always been so."**

Weiss frowned at the statement. It has been so since her father inherited the SDC from her grandfather due to Nicholas Schnee's poor health in his later years.

" **You would be right." Weiss said, now feeling better as she talked about the next part. "The company started small with my grandfather. He went to a huntsman academy, but dropped out to learn about business and Dust mining." Weiss had grown up with stories of her grandfather from the family butler Klein, and she felt very proud to be related to someone like that. "It was all so that he could oversee the mining operations himself. While also protecting people working for him from any Grimm attacks single-handedly."**

"Ah yes, Nicholas Schnee. He was a fine individual during his time." Ozpin said.

"Other than my sister, my grandfather is the only other person I look up to. Unlike him, I plan to be a full-fledged huntress." Weiss said with over abundant confidence.

"If only the current head of the SDC was anything like him." Blake said lowly. To be honest, she knew Weiss would not be offended by that comment for Weiss also wanted that to be true, but it ultimately wasn't.

 **Dahlia chuckled at Weiss enthusiasm. "Your grandfather sounds like a great man." Dahlia said, taking a sip of her tea. "But I take it things changed when your father took over." The ice Blade then said with a frown.**

" **Yes." Weiss sounded out, ashamed of her father's policies. "Letting my father marry into the family was his greatest mistake."**

"Your father must have some acting skills if he was able to fool your grandfather for letting him into the family." Luck said.

"Maybe at the time it was good enough. It doesn't help that mother did take an interest in him in the past." Weiss revisited the information she was told about her father.

 **That surprised Dahlia a little, to hear Weiss' father was not a Schnee by blood, but through marriage. Still… "How so?" Dahlia was interested even though she had an idea.**

 **Weiss took a sip of her coffee before she felt like talking. "My father… he rose the Schnee company to what it is today through some… questionable means, one of which you have heard already." The Schnee heiress said as she was getting to the topic that almost made her anti-faunus. "Because of that, the White Fang have been at war with my family. As in, actual bloodshed." At this point Weiss clenched her hands tightly around her cup. "Family friends going missing, executives dying, and every time father came home angry."**

"All of this just from a change in leadership. How unfortunate." Oobleck said while maintaining his most neutral expression. The SDC has made it's mark in Remnant's history. It would be benificial for Weiss to learn from the achievements, failures, and operating viewpoints from inside the business and the outsider perspective. Doing so would allow her to make the necessary changes for the business for the business workforce and public opinion with the faunus when she eventually inherits the company. Although, years of suffering and hate can't easily be undone.

 **Dahlia placed one of her hands gently over Weiss'. "I'm sorry… This must bring you bad memories." The Blade said to her distressed Driver.**

" **Thank you." Those words didn't even begin to describe how she felt right now for Dahlia listening without judging. "But that's not what's important. Someday when I do take over the company..." Weiss looked around the cafe. She had picked the most secluded spot for a reason, but she still had to be sure. Satisfied at the lack of people nearby, Weiss motioned Dahlia to come closer, which the Blade did with a curious look. "I plan to make some changes." Weiss whispered, which made the Blade giggle at the childish way of keeping a secret.**

"I suppose there are a few better ways to go about it." Weiss admitted, feeling a bit embaressed from how her other went about her declaration.

"Naw, this is better." Ruby, Yang, and Nora said together.

" **Sounds like you're a lot like your grandfather, if that's how you feel." Dahlia said in amusement. She may not have much information on this man, but if he was willing to put his own life on the line, then he couldn't have been a bad person.**

" **Thank you, that means a lot." Weiss said, feeling happy about the compliment, before she frowned. "Though I'm still ashamed of being related to my father."**

 **That made Weiss' Blade frown, before she had a nice idea. "I guess there's only one good thing your father has ever done." Dahlia said with a conspirational smile, earning a confused look from Weiss. The Blade leaned in to say her next piece quietly. "He helped in conceiving you." Those words were followed by a shameless giggle.**

Weiss blushed from that rather personal comment.

"Otherwise we wouldn't be besties." Ruby said.

"Team RWBY would never be team RWBY." Yang added.

"We would never have the best possible chance of being huntresses without you." Blake followed up.

"I would have become Ruby's friend if it weren't for you." Penny said, unintentionally reminded team RWBY about the runaway incident.

Nora tried to think of something to say similar to what the rest of team RWBY said. She has only known her for one semester. She nor anyone from team JNPR had any significant moments with Weiss yet. "Whether shes here or not, your still the second best team of first years. At least you being here means that the rest of your team didn't get a faceless nobody."

"Comparing both teams as a whole, we both do rather well academically." Weiss makes sure her team excels in academics while team JNPR has Pyrrha… and Ren. "My team is more balanced and has better team synergy." Even though Pyrrha is on the other team.

"I suppose so." Pyrrha said.

" **Dahlia." Weiss whispered yelled as she looked frantically around to make sure no one heard her say that. She did not need that kind of thought in her head, even if she knew it to be true. Or anyone to her her having that kind of conversation, thank you very much. Thankfully, the few people that were in the small cafe were either not interested, or just thought they were crazy with all the giggling that came out of them.**

Definitely not normal for Weiss as far as her team knows, but they enjoyed it.

" **You know it's true." Dahlia said suggestively, prompting Weiss to make a noise that sounded like a groan and gigging mixed together.**

Sounds like a contradictory action to everyone.

" **You're terrible." Weiss said without meaning any of it despite herself.**

" **You say that, but the other day you called me mother." Dahlia reminded with a deceptively sweet smile.**

"WHAT?!" Weiss was appalled. How could her other make that… mistake. She herself had a small unknowing feeling that Dahlia could personally be viewed like that. Even if the others at the cafe weren't interested in her other's business with Dahlia, but the possibility of them hearing that and raising questions was there. Then there are her fellow peers…

The thought that everyone had but didn't voice or did voice earlier was now confirmed. Everyone chuckled of just outright laughed at the mention of Weiss calling Dahlia mother for a few reasons.

"We have just found mama Schnee even if she's not the actual mother." Yang said.

"That's your mom? She beautiful." Nora said.

"I see that your family is improving their relationship and public image with faunus by having Dahlia in the family." Blake said. She knew something like this would normally never happen with current Schnee leadership and, by extension, the current White Fang.

"I think another addition to the family would be nice." Luck said. Given the current situation happening with the readers, they thought he was just joining the wave of Dahlia being Weiss' other mother, but he was thinking of a different Blade.

"Can we PLEASE ignore this and continue?" Weiss didn't want her embarrassment from her Blade being her mother to sink in any more.

"The only one stopping you from reading is yourself. You could have easily continue reading while almost everyone else was distracted." Luck told the heiress.

She could have continued reading and it would be on them if they missed anything.

 **Which made Weiss bury her face with her hands. "Dahlia, please don't bring that up ever again. When she made that mistake, her team, especially Yang, laughed their heads off.**

So this was the mistake that was mentioned earlier…

 **The Blade responded by flat out laughing at her Driver, which made a few patrons and workers wonder what this white faunus did to get a laugh at the Schnee's expense. "I'm sorry my dear sweet Weiss, I just couldn't resist." Dahlia said like she was a mother comforting her child. All the while she pat Weiss' head.**

No favors were being done for Weiss as her friends continued to laugh at the scene of Weiss being treated like a kid from her Blade mother.

" ** _This day can't get any worse. It just can't."_ Weiss thought desperately as she could do nothing but to suffer this humiliation. Seriously, she suffered enough when Yang actually sounded serious about Dahlia being Weiss mother, just to tease the poor girl. Worse yet, Blake and Ruby joined in on it, telling her that it's okay to be related to a faunus. Even Weiss doesn't understand why she went and made such a stupid mistake. And now… she'll probably never live it down.**

 **After a few hours, Weiss and Dahlia have returned to Beacon on an airship. Unfortunately, Weiss had noticed a certain ship parked on the air pad. One that she recognized all too well. " _WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!?"_ Weiss screamed inside her head with a horrified look. " _WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS!?"_ Whatever deities were out there clearly had a deep hatred for Weiss for even using her own sister to make her suffer. Now don't get her wrong, Weiss loves her dear sister Winter, but she wasn't sure how she would react to Dahlia. Better yet, what if she has already seen their room and has decided to pull strings to pull her out of Beacon?**

"All you did was awaken a Blade and let Yang somehow get your scroll." Penny said.

"I sure Specialist Schnee won't pull you out since you dorm is the outlier of the other dorms with a painfully obvious safety hazard. She most likely would fixed your bed situation for me." Ozpin said.

" **Weiss, what's wrong?" Dahlia asked in concern.**

" **She's here." Weiss said in terror, already planning on where to escape. Unfortunately, none of here ideas had a happy ending.**

"Series premiere starts with meeting the militant member of the family. Could be a scary situation Nora commented like she was watching "Meet the Schnees".

" **Who's here?" Dahlia asked, now worried about what kind of evil had come to hunt Weiss.**

" **We have to run." Weiss quickly said as she grabbed Dahlia's fuzzy arm and started dragging her to one of the airships. "Maybe we can escape to Mistral or even Vacuo before-" "WEISS!" No such luck for the poor girl, who froze at the commanding tone she was all to familiar with.**

 **Now Dahlia noticed Weiss' reaction and turned to look at the monstrosity that instilled such fear into her. Only to become mildly confused at the young woman who bore a strikingly similar resemblance to Weiss. Few differences though. A uniform of some kind, hair tied to a bun as opposed to Weiss' offside ponytail, and what looked like a permanent scowl on her face.**

"Definitely not frightening at all." Penny said. Sounded more genuine from her than sarcastic. Had it been from someone else, then the opposite would be true.

" **W-Winter." Weiss stammered as she dared to turn towards her sister with a pure look of terror. Now holding onto Dahlia's arm like her life depended on it. "It's not what you're thinking! Whatever this looks like, it's not what you think it is!" Weiss' desperate cries were enough for Dahlia, who made her bitball appear in preparation to defend her Driver.**

 **Winter raised an eyebrow at Weiss' panicked attitude and the faunus woman, whom the specialist now could tell was indeed a Blade, looked like she was ready to defend the younger Schnee from an unspeakable evil. "You have resonated with a Core Crystal, which earned you a Blade who I assume is the one your clinging to?"**

"Your sister is already handling the situation better than you." Nora said.

"Yes, she is not panicked nor is attempting to pull out whatever weapon she has including her Blade who is most likely nearby." Ren said.

"Perhaps a more professional approach would have been better despite my panic." Weiss admitted. There are times where professionalism or having a strong poker face will help in a dire situation like the one her other thinks she's going through.

" **No! That's not-" Weiss started frantically before Winter's words fully registered in her head. "...Oh… In that case… it's exactly what it looks like." Weiss said a lot more calmly as she loosened her grip on the lifeline that was Dahlia to the point of letting go. "Wait! You know about Blades? How?" Weiss questioned even as her sister was now walking calmly towards them. Only to be stopped by a bitball that clashed just a few centimeters away from the specialist's foot.**

"Unnecessary atagonization from a misunderstanding on Dahlia's part." Pyrrha said.

" **That's close enough." Dahlia said as the projectile returned to her hand.**

" **Dahlia! That's my sister, you dolt." Weiss cried out at her Blade.**

" **Then why are you so scared of her?" Dahlia asked, still distrustful.**

 **At that questioned, Weiss looked down in shame. "...I was afraid Winter would hate me for having you… and..."**

" **Weiss I'm not mad at you. Least of all you having a Blade." Winter said in a softer tone and gentler look on her face. "I just got my hands on a picture of you with a strange faunus. So I thought I would investigate. But it looks like the faunus in question is actually your Blade."**

" **Yeaaah… One of my teammates was trying to be funny and she accidentally sent you that picture." Weiss said, feeling immense relief at Winter not hating her. "But how do you recognize Dahlia as a Blade." Weiss asked again.**

"Nearly had a heart attack because of your action Yang." Weiss scolded Yang.

"Yeaaah… sorry about that, but I think it was worth it." Yang played it off like nothing serious would happen.

 **That question earned a sigh from Winter. "The Core Crystal is in plain view. But if you want to know how I know about Blades, then come. It's easier to show you." With that command Winter turned towards her personal airship. Since it was a private jet essentially, it wasn't too big, but it had enough room to house her… luggage.**

Luck had a feeling Newt was the luggage. "...That's rather rude." He commented.

Seeing things from Luck's perspective, the viewers did think that was a bit disrespectful.

 **Not knowing what else to do, Weiss glanced at Dahlia who had dismissed her weapon, seeing as Winter wasn't a threat, before the younger Schnee waked after her sister.**

 **It didn't take long before the trio reached the hatch that would lead into Winter's ship. The specialist banged on the hatch three times before issuing an order. "NEWT! FRONT AND CENTER!" With that powerful command, Weiss and Dahlia heard some scrambling in the ship before the hatch opened and Winter's "luggage" practically dashed outside, right in front of the specialist.**

"That certainly wasn't a complete uniform response to attendance." Weiss commented.

" **Newt, reporting for duty ma'am." Winter's Blade said as she gave a salute with her extra arm pair mimicking the motion.**

" **At ease, Newt." Winter said, finding satisfaction that Newt at least follows orders quickly in... relatively orderly fashion. When the Blade visibly relaxed, but still had her attention at Winter, the specialist turned to her sister. "Newt, meet my little sister Weiss. Weiss, meet Newt, my Blade." Winter motioned between the two as she spoke.**

" **Uhhh… Greetings." Weiss said unsurely as she looked at Newt's appearance. " _And I though Dahlia was bizarre."_**

"Only the giant pair of arms above her is bizarre and it's not too big of a distraction." Yang said. "The other distraction can be easily fixed."

" **Greetings, Miss Weiss." Newt greeted, switching to a more professional tone. "I must say, I'm a little… disappointed."**

" **Excuse me?" Weiss asked, not sure how to take that comment.**

Almost exactly Weiss' reaction.

" **Well, since you are related to specialist Schnee, I assume you to be much more militaris-" "Newt." Winter said in a warning tone. "Beacon handles it's huntsmen and huntresses differently from Atlas." At that explanation, Newt looked very chastised. Satisfied with the results, Winter turned back to Weiss with an apologetic look. "Apologies for Newt's behavior. It has been quite a… hassle working with her."**

"It seems Miss Newt set her expectations… a bit high." Ozpin said.

"Sorry to disappoint, but not being militaristic is part of the reason why I didn't stay in Atlas." Weiss said.

" **It's… quite alright." Weiss said, worried about the hesitation on the "hassle" part. "But… How many Blades has Atlas awakened?" Weiss asked, picturing an army of Atlesian soldiers as Drivers.**

"Not the entire Atlesian army could be Drivers due to the Core Crystal requirement and if Blade have started to appear in both Vale and Atlas then they are likely to appear in the other kingdoms and outside kingdom walls." Oobleck pointed out. There is a decent chance that around the time Blades were first discovered in Remnant a few Blades were already awakened.

" **As of now, I alone am a Driver. The general thought the risk was too great after our recruits were injured.." Winter responded, seeing that this wasn't critical intel. "Speaking of which, how did you come to possess a Blade?" The specialist then asked Weiss in return.**

" **...It's a long story." Weiss said, not sure if she was allowed to talk about it.**

"I'll allow it." Ozpin commented.

" **I'm not going anywhere for the next two days." Winter replied, not letting Weiss weasel out of this. "And while I'm here, I might as well see if your living quarters are up to my standards."**

 **Dahlia laughed at that, earning a questioning raise of an eyebrow from the older Schnee. "Oh nothing. It's just… well you have to see it to believe it." The ice Blade said with a giggle.**

" **Dahlia!" Weiss did not share her Blade's amusement. The heiress had a pretty good idea of how Winter was going to react to the improvised bunk beds. Weiss was against it in the first place, but… well… she did always want bunk beds when she was little.**

"Dad said otherwise." Weiss admitted.

"Why did you want bunk beds?" Ruby asked her partner.

"I… wanted to stay close to my sister at home when I was little." Weiss revealed her reason.

It was an okay reason. However, some people did think that it would be unnecessary for aristocrats to even have bunk beds. It's not something a noble would have.

" **That does not sound promising. "Winter said while giving her sister a pointed look. "Now I really must see for myself."**

 **Weiss resisted a slump and accepted her fate. " _I'm gonna miss everyone."_**

"Think of it like this, its easier to have you stay for the sake of story progression rather than split you apart from you friends this early." Luck told Weiss.

Remaining at Beacon for convenient story progression… that seems likely. Weiss, however, didn't know how to feel about that.

 **After reaching the RWBY dorm, Winter took one look at the sleeping arrangements. "Weiss… what is this?" Winter asked sternly, ignoring the curious looks from the rest of the team RWBY who had come back earlier.**

" **...Our bunk beds." Weiss said, still resigned for the inevitable.**

" **Uhhh… Weiss… who's this?" Yang asked as she looked between Weiss and Winter, pausing in her video game as she laid on her bed.**

" **This is unacceptable." Winter said, clearly displeased at the arrangement.**

" **I couldn't agree with you more." Dahlia said from the doorway. "I would feel much more assured if my Driver didn't sleep beneath that rope trap."**

"Way to ignore my question." Yang felt a bit hurt from being ignored. "But come on, our bunk beds proved to be stable enough."

"As long as the support for the suspended beds don't fail." Weiss pointed out the for their beds. While she and Blake acknowledged the beds being stable enough there is that small conscious fear of being put in a coffin early.

 **Roze, who was inspecting Ruby's old blue-prints for Crescent Rose with his Driver, nodded in agreement. The two have tried to get the girls to get proper bunk beds, but their worries fell on deaf ears. Hence Dahlia planned to have Weiss' sister do that.**

"I suppose that's one difference between both academies." Ozpin commented.

" **That's what this is about?" Weiss gaped in disbelief, figuring out Dahlia's plot. All the while a certain someone wasn't allowed inside yet.**

" **HEY! I can't see in." Newt complained as she childishly tried to hop to see over the taller ice Blade blocking her view.**

"Sucks to be short." Said the shorty of the entire Remnant group.

" **Uhhh… Hello." Ruby greet the stranger that might as well be Weiss 2.0.**

 **That earned Winter's attention for a moment. "You must be Ruby Rose. The team leader my sister has written about in her letters."**

"You write about me? Is it all good things?" Ruby asked Weiss excitedly.

"Yes, but not everything is positive." Weiss told her leader.

That alone implied to Ruby that Weiss may have mentioned some of the bad things that happened in the first semester.

" **Uhhh… Yeah." Ruby said shyly as Roze eyed the woman and Weiss. Before giving Dahlia a questioning look.**

" **How appropriately… underwhelming." Winter commented, causing Ruby to slump a little.**

" **And who are you to say that." Roze questioned as he came close to make eye contact.**

 **Piercing blue eyes met an empty white gaze. Winter considers hersel calm and composed, but unfortunately, something about gazing into the white void this Blade calls his eyes made her... unnerved. "… I am Winter Schnee, an Atlesian specialist, and Weiss' older sister. And you must be the Blade that awakened as a result of attempted murder." Winter hoped that her introduction made the Blade realize who he was dealing with.**

"No fear from Roze simply because he doesn't know her, but I will agree with Winter. Those empty white eyes Roze has is a bit unsettling." Jaune said.

 **All the while the rest of the team gave Weiss an accusing look, which prompted Weiss to mouth, "Sorry.".**

" **...Your title means nothing." Roze said sounding unimpressed. "Though your relation to Weiss does." To Winter's credit, her eyes widened only a fraction at the blatant disregard for her position, but it was instantly pushed back at the next part.**

" **How so, might I ask?" Winter asked this insolent man that started to remind her of a certain drunkard.**

"… **Because that means you can finally talk some sense into them to get rid of these atrocities they dare call bunk beds." Roze explained, motioning towards the said "atrocities". "Or perhaps simply to replace them with proper ones."**

" **TRAITOR!" Ruby cried in outrage. An outrage that was shared by Yang and to a lesser extent, Blake.**

"Do you know how mush time and effort it took for us to get our beds like that?" Ruby asked her her Blade who currently does exist in her world.

"About five seconds and we some had tools that we shouldn't normally have to do so." Weiss replied about the minimal effort to construct makeshift bunk beds.

"Way to shoot down out hard work." Ruby slumped. "At least we made more space for out stuff."

"Maybe you all should have brought less with you." Jaune said.

"No way, it's all needed." Team RWBY said in unison.

"It's just optional decorations taking up space." Ren said. "We didn't have a need to reposition furniture and our room is still rather spacious."

Team RWBY knew that was true and were unable to say otherwise. They doubted that Ozpin would remodel any time soon.

 **Roze's response surprised Winter, who looked between Roze and Dahlia. "It seems that you two share my views on these… bunk beds." Winter said, hesitanting to call these death traps that.**

" **Come on, they're sturdier than they look." Yang said, emphasizing her point by bouncing on her bed a little. Unfortunately, this one time, Yang managed to bounce in a way that made the bed shift ever so slightly on the book stacks that kept it upright. Which made the bed drop on top of Blake's. Thankfully, the bed stopped on the beams of Blake's bed, saving the faunus from being crushed to death. Yang chuckled nervously. "Ehhehheh… Whoops."**

"Go ahead and replace the beds." Blake could easily get new copies of the books that were used if they got damaged beyond the beds sandwiching them. Most of the books were hers while rest belonged to her teammates. However the books don't compare to a person's life.

"Goodbye RWBY bunk beds. You will be missed because of Yang." Ruby went into a solemn silence.

Yang couldn't say anything since this could also potentially happen in their dorm.

"We need to replace our beds as soon as possible." Weiss said.

 **Winter opened her mouth to snark at Yang, *Crick* only to be stopped by the sound of straining wood. This made every person in the room to turn their gazes slowly at the source. Turns out the short fall of Yang's bed was enough to make the beams of Blake's bed crack.**

 **Blake herself had completely frozen in fear of being crushed to death. Which promptly made her regret every life decision she has ever made that led to this moment. Even leaving the White Fang, and that's saying something. *CRACK* And the beams failed. With Blake closing her eyes in panick, waiting for the impact… which never arrived. The cat faunus opened her eyes hesitantly to see a giant white gloved hand holding Yang's bed in the air.**

Focusing on the potential death that almost happened over the mention of the White Fang, the students sighed in relief because Blake didn't get crushed.

"No choice but to replace the beds now." Ozpin said.

" **Phew, that was close." Said Newt who had barreled into the room, pushing Dahlia out of the way in the process and using one of her giant arms to catch and hold the bed in the air with ease. "That could have ended badly." The militaristic Blade said as she tipped the bed in a way that made Yang fall on top of Blake with a loud yelp from both of them.**

" **Thank you, Newt. Winter thanked her Blade for quick action. As this happened, Blake was glaring at a sheepishly nervous Yang.**

" **Off. Now." That simple command made Yang scrambled off her partner.**

"You know you didn't mind me on top." Yang smirked at Blake.

"No I didn't." Blake quickly retorted with a blush from Yang's comment. She just didn't like Yang falling on top of her like that. Yang just happened to land on her in a certain way. I reminded her of a few certain… books she read and there wasn't a normal female only relationship. While at one point she considered experimenting because of those few books, she preferred the straight content from her favorite series, Ninjas of Love. However, the other books did leave its mark on her.

The denial didn't bother Yang. She didn't mind if her relationship with Blake remained the way it is. She was sure there was a certain guy that meets whatever her standards are.

 ***Snap* That sound made everyone glance at Ruby's bed. One of the ropes had snapped. What's worse, Dahlia was only just recovering from being flung onto Weiss' bed by Newt's dash.**

" **DAHLIA, GET OUT OF THERE!" Weiss' scream was useless, because at that moment, the rest of the ropes snapped. Thankfully, Newt used her other arm to catch the bed, before it could crush the ice Blade.**

" **...Once again, thank you Newt." Winter said again, although she was still a little rattleded at the death traps being triggered now of all times. "Though I do wonder what would have happened if I wasn't here today… or if this had happened in your sleep.**

 **That last part made each and every one of the girls fearful for more than one reason as a horrible thought crossed their minds.**

"I would truly be an unfortunate outcome if your sleeping arrangements had been what ended you life prematurely." Oobleck said.

"At best, the bed falling would have knocked out Dahlia." Luck said. Blade are more durable than humans and faunus and that just putting it lightly.

Not that Blake though about the situation, her other was aware the bed was going to fall on her and she could have easily just used her semblance to get away. She doubted there was enough time to escape the death trap normally.

 **Ruby had a mental image of waking up to find her partner crushed to death by her fallen. The thought alone made Ruby look like she wanted to cry. After all, these improvised bunk beds were her idea in the first place.**

 **Yang had an equally terrifying thought about the fate happening to her own partner… The blonde bombshell wasn't sure if she would live with herself if that had actually happened.**

 **Weiss and Blake… Well they just got a terrifying thought of dying like that in there sleep. Weiss more so because Dahlia was almost crushed… Or actually, maybe Blake was more fearful since she was almost crushed.**

"And you all agreed to make your beds like that?" Ozpin questioned Team RWBY.

"I was the only one who disagreed, but I was outnumbered in the voting process and ended up helping." Weiss told the head master. After seeing the worst potential outcome almost come true, her team had fear instilled into them. They expected Ozpin to give them some great punishment after viewing the near death of his students, but they had a strange feeling that nothing would happen.

"Well, that eliminates accidental murder and accidental suicide since you all had a hand in this even if Ms. Schnee initially disagreed. It would just be an accident, but it would make your journey to become huntresses more difficult. If you can't keep yourselves safe then how can you protect others?" Ozpin asked one of his star first year teams.

The all girl team just wanted to get away topic of hazardous beds.

" **Ruby… I told you these were bad." Roze said, this time sounding tender because as fas as the rose themed Blade was concerned, his Driver had suffered enough.**

" **...Sorry." Ruby said, letting tears come out of her eyes. With that, Roze went back to his Driver's side and pulled her into a hug.**

" **Uhh.. ma'am." Newt called Winter, still balancing the two beds. "What should I do with these?"**

" **Just put them outside for the moment." Winter sighed as she moved to a spot where she wouldn't be in the way. After all, the room itself was too small to hold four beds with all the stuff the girls own. Which was also the reason why they went with this "bunk bed" idea in the first place.**

" **Understood!" With that proud proclamation, Newt wiggled each of the beds in her hands one at a time through the door and into the hallway.**

Just a bit of proof that Ren was right about their stuff taking up more space in their room otherwise the bed arrangement wouldn't be necessary.

Seeing Newt's strength was just an extra point in the early stages of Blades in Remnant being stronger than humans and faunus.

" **She's strong." Yang commented, in slight jealousy. She's physically strongest of team RWBY but even she couldn't have moved the beds that easily. Although the problem is more on balancing them, rather than lifting them.**

" **Newt may be a brute, but she is very precise in her actions." Winter said, once finding pride in her Blade's good qualities.**

"A very Weiss-like answer." Yang said. "Or should I say Winter-like since she is your older sister?"

""Just stop Yang." Weiss groan.

" **Operation complete!" Newt said proudly with a salute, which earned the Blade a nod of approval from her Driver.**

" **...Winter… I..." Weiss tried to talk, but she didn't know what she could say that would not make her sister pull her out of Beacon somehow.**

" **You and your team are going to need proper bunk beds." Winter said not caring about what Weiss had to say right now. "Therefore I am willing to provide them for you, if only to ensure you four wouldn't get a stupid idea like this again."**

Yang gave a nervous chuckle." No promises."

 **That comment earned some very surprising looks from the girls. "Uhh, you don't have to do that." Ruby said awkwardly.**

" **But she could." Roze butted in, giving a small smile at Dahlia who gave the male Blade a thumbs up.**

 **The exchange wasn't lost to the girls or Winter who couldn't help thinking that these Blades are more shrew that Newt. Still, it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't trust the girls not to pull something like this again in the future, unless the specialist takes away the need to do that. "It's as Miss Rose's Blade says, I can and will do it. And if your worried about my finances, don't be." Winter said while at the same time shutting down the only possible argument Weiss could give. "Something s trivial as two bunk beds hardly puts a decent dent into my account." Despite being a Schnee, Winter doesn't have any kind of allowance from their father. After all she joined the Atlas military against the man's will. However, her job as an Atlas specialist has really paid off, meaning that for the past few years, Winter has lived on her own merits.**

"You're father was really against you and your sister from leaving Atlas." Pyrrha said.

"I believe father was a bit more accepting of us wanting to be huntresses, but he did give us several task as his attempt to stop us from leaving should we fail. I suppose it did remind him a bit about the founder of the SDC. He was furious when Winter decide to join the military after becoming a huntress. I wouldn't be surprised if he did stop financially supporting her." Weiss explained. Being away from their father like Winter did is what led her to study and train as a huntress at Beacon Academy rather than Atlas Academy.

"And you don't think he would do something similar to you like not telling him of your progress?" Penny asked.

"...The possibility exist, but as long as I return to Atlas after graduation to take up my role as heiress to the SDC I should be fine. No need to contact him." Weiss believe she is correct with her actions, but she will soon find out about the consequences of those actions.

" **Miss Schnee, you are awesome." Yang cheered with a fist pump, earning an eyeroll from the woman. "Can I have a match against your Blade?"**

 **That last question caught Winter and Newt off guard. "Why would you want that?" Winter asked, wondering if this stacked blonde was brave or stupid… Winter was leaning towards the latter.**

 **I wanna see who's stronger!" And there is the proof.**

"So far, we know that Newt easily destroyed several Atlas paladins with ease which created a new standard for Atlesian military technology and she is easily balancing your fallen beds." Penny reminded Yang.

"Plus she got four arms. She can fold or do something else with her normal arms while she beats you with her giant arms." Nora added.

"We don't know her weapon either." Leave it to Ruby to the mention of a weapon.

"I think I can manage." Yang shrugged off the doubts of others.

" **Newt?"**

" **Yes ma'am?"**

" **What do you think?"**

 **Newt grinned at her Driver. "With your permission, I could use some fresh meat."**

 **The specialist grimaced at the phrasing and the savage tone. "Permission granted." But she still saw no reason to deny the request. Which made Newt clap her normal pair of hands in excitement, while the giant pair just floated passively.**

"We've seen Roze beat Russel and Cardin easily with Ruby. Dahlia wrecked Roze with a level one special. Get ready to view some destruction people." Nora said.

"Ain't no way the fight is going to be that one sided." Yang said.

" **So then… miss..."**

" **Yang Xiao Long." Yang said with a smirk as she walked over to the shorter woman. "But just call me Yang, pipsqueak." Newt dropped her grin at that phrase.**

" **...Shall we go." Newt said, her previous enthusiasm gone completely.**

"I think you messed up Yang." Jaune voiced his opinion.

Yang will only admit it if she gets wrecked easily.

 **All the while Winter looked on in exasperation. " _Now she's done it."_ Newt isn't overly sensitive about her height , but if you try to use your size to belittle her then prepare to be her punching bag.**

 **That's why the team and their Blades find themselves sitting in the seats of the arena, with Yang preparing Ember Celica, her shotgun guantlets. And Newt cracking her knuckles, all four sets of them.**

"Even Winter thinks your going to lose." Nora said.

"Against all odds." was Yang's response. It seems to her she primarily engaging in a fist fight with the militaristic Blade. That could work in her favor.

 **Yang had a confident grin at the shorter woman, while Newt had a savage grin. "Ma'am. Permission to use semi-lethal force." Newt requested from Winter, the Driver in question making eye contact with the eye on the back of Newt's head.**

" **Permission denied." Winter said without missing a beat. She wasn't unnerved enough by the extra eye anymore to not respond.**

" **Aww… but why not?" Newt complained, turning to her Driver with a sad look in her normal eyes.**

" **I don't want to explain to the headmaster why one of his students died in a sparring match." Winter said, sounding completely serious. Sadly, having wielded Newt's power, Winter was dead serious about it.**

" **Riiiight, that would be a problem." Newt said while tapping her chin with one finger in a thinking pose.**

"That would indeed be a major problem. Thank you specialist Schnee for the necessary handicap to prevent another possible student death. Ozpin acknowledged the decision for Winter's Blade to hold back.

Yang had to respect Winter's decision even if she didn't like it. She wanted her opponent to go at her in full force if possible.

"Back attacks are useless because she has an eye in the back of her head." The knowledge of that hardly freaked out Nora. Her coffee trip was the strangest thing that ever happened to her.

" **So are we gonna start?" Yang asked eagerly.**

 **At that, Newt turned to Yang, before crossing her hands in the back of her back, all four of them. "Whenever your ready." The fire Blade said with a smirk.**

" **With that, Yang propelled herself with a shot from Ember Celica to punch Newt in the face. Only, the blonde brawler got back handed by one of Newt's giant arms. Her normal arms now being crossed against her chest.**

"The disrespect!" Nora called out.

" **Lucky shot." Yang said, as she launced herself again. "Let's see you take this." Yang shouted as she raised her fist. Only to be flicked away by a giant finger.**

" **Take what exactly?" Newt said in amusement, her normal arms still crossed, while her floating ones doing a "come hither" motion.**

"She didn't take it." Penny pointed out.

"And even more disrespect." Nora added.

 **Yang was seriously getting pissed at being looked down on by a shrimp. A shrimp with giant floating arms, but still a shrimp. "Stop hiding behind your arms and fight me like a woman." Yang shouted this time foregoing launching and instead ran at her quarry.**

 **Newt laughed at Yang's shouting. "Hiding? How is me using my arms any different from you using yours." And then she blocked. One of Yang's punches with a giant finger.**

" **I don't have freakishly huge arms like yours." Yang shouted, her eyes red, as each and every one of her punches was blocked by one giant finger after another. Until Newt decided to catch Yang's next punch between a thumb and an index finger.**

"Your at her mercy Yang." Pyrrha said.

"I got my semblance as my trump card. Newt help me build it up with her defensive options."

Ruby knew that wouldn't make a difference. How can a temper tantrum ever be beneficial when fighting another person. That's not including against people who suck at combat or just fear Yang's anger.

" **Are you calling me a freak, or are you just jealous?" Newt mocked as she lifted Yang off the ground and slammed the blonde on different spots on the floor. "Seriously, I haven't even used my weapon." after that last remark, Newt let go of Yang mid-swing.**

 **That remark earned wide eyes from everyone. "Wait, aren't those arms her weapons?" Ruby asked, thinking that the giant floating arms were an orbital weapon of some kind.**

"It knew those arms were misleading as a weapon." Ruby had her though confirmed. "What is her weapon?"

"I don't know and I can't picture Winter using those giant arms." Weiss was unable to form that picture in her head.

 **Winter scoffed at that. "Of course not. Those arms are just as normal for her as ours are to us."**

" **So… what is her weapon then?" Roze asked as he looked at Yang, who had charged her semblance a lot from the punishment Newt gave her. "Never mind." Roze said as Yang's fist collided with a giant palm.**

 **To Newt's utter shocked… her fist was being pushed back. " _Impossible."_ Newt shouted in her head as she struggled, still keeping her normal arms crossed. Honestly, the Blade could easily swat Yang with the other arm, but this block attempt had Newt's pride in her strength on the line.**

"In this case, I don't believe that Newt's pride in her strength would be her downfall. If there was no mention of her pride then this she be an easy win for her." Ozpin said.

Yang gave a look to the headmaster which told him "you are not going to back up your student in this situation." Then again, it could just be him not playing favorites.

"Just going to say that one of Newt's skills is super strength. You seen it with the beds and it can be implied that she used it with the mechs." Luck said.

Super strength, like the kind you see in super hero comics or other media? "Okay, I'll admit that I may be in trouble with that information. At least I'm making my strength known." Yang admitted.

" **Just… BREAK!" Yang practically roared, as her hair let out a fiery explosion. And then… the blonde was flung back.**

" **If you want to break me..." Newt said with light gasps of air. Her normal arms out of their position with one of them having done a thrust and the corresponding floating arm had mimicked the motion. The same floating arm that Yang was trying to overpower. "You have to do better than that."**

" **How the hell did you still block me!?" Yang roared, her aura flickering from all the damage she took. "I took your fully powered strikes more than once!"**

" **Fully… powered?" Newt mouthed questioningly, before bursting into laughter. "You AHAHAHAHA though I was using my full power!?" And the Blade laughed harder. "I was holding back!"**

"SHE NOT USING HER FULL STRENGTH!?" Yang felt insulted.

"Come to find out that she was only using 15 percent of her power." Nora jokingly said.

Luck knew that Newt was nowhere near her max potential and that not including her handicap for the fight if it could be called that. This more like one sided humiliation.

" **Your lying!" Yang shouted, for she had quickly looked at her scroll to see that her aura was already in the red. "YOU HAVE TO BE!" Yang couldn't bring herself to accept that this… shrimp was out of her league.**

Yang slumped. "Yet the truth is right in front of me."

How would professional huntsmen handle the Blades that we have seen so far in their current state." Nora asked.

Luck took a look at the professors. "With the exception of Newt, they have a decent chance at besting any of the Blades we have seen as they are now in a one on one fight. We can assume Winter had Newt for a while and unlocked some of her potential. The professors may have a difficult time dealing with her even in a two on one fight. They may want to consider having a third person since she can take quite a bit of punishment by Blade standards."

So fighting a Blade without a Blade or the potential to be a Driver and winning can be done, but regular would certainly have to put more than the usual amount of work for the victory since Blade so far have proven to be superior beings.

" **Name one time I actually punched you, or used more than one finger at a time to repel you." The fire Blade's words were accompanied by a savage grin.**

No one saw Newt do any of that.

 **In the stands… everyone had gone silent at the revelation. "She's strong." Roze said a little dumbfounded at someone being much stronger than a semblance powered Yang. Worse part is, Roze knew that Newt was right. The motions she used to beat Yang seemed… lazy until the last block. That's when Newt actually tried.**

" **And she wasn't even using her weapon." Blake added in, wondering how one sided this fight could have been if Newt had used her weapon, whatever it is.**

" **...Can a Blade be this powerful on their own?" Weiss wondered, now wondering is she was good enough to be Dahlia's Driver.**

"They could, but its up to the Driver to unlock their full potential. Being able to do that says that you are a competent Driver." Luck said.

" **...Winter must've unlocked a lot of Newt's power." Dahlia said, also surprised at the strength Winter's Blade possessed. "Makes me wonder about the damage she and Winter could cause together.**

Weiss thought on that."...At least the Atlas military and Winter could minimize the potential damage Newt can cause." She commented.

 **For all intents and purposes, Weiss should be scared at the thought. But… she can't see her sister doing anything insanely destructive. "Dahlia… will you be this strong one day?" So Weiss decided to ask her Blade, now thinking that she had only seen a _fraction_ of her power.**

"She wasn't even at 10 percent." Nora commented.

" **...Maybe not in the same way Newt is, but most likely." Dahlia said, making Weiss feel useless as a Driver. "But I will need your help to unlock it, Weiss." The ice bunny said while lightly hugging her Driver.**

 **Blake looked at the exchange in slight jealousy. Then she shifted to Roze who had his hand on Ruby's shoulder as a show of support.**

"Looks like Blake is lonely." Yang teased Blake to break away from the reality of her loss.

"...I think it means I'm next to get a Blade." Blake said.

" **NEWT! STOP!" Winter's shout made everyone look towards the Blade in question.**

 **Newt was now holding a giant katana in a sheath with her giant arms. Her normal arms mimicking the motion this time. And Yang was charging at the Blade in a last attempt to take the shrimp down.**

"Glynda would be displeased." Ozpin commented.

 **Worst of all, Winter's cry seemed to fall on deaf ears, as she sliced at Yang who was flung back by more than just a cut. But none of them could tell immediately what kind of damage Newt caused.**

" **If you have time to complain, you have time to grow stronger." Newt said, dismissing her weapon while fixing her glasses. Only to suddenly be punched in the head by Winter who had come down to the arena.**

" **Newt! What did I say! No semi-lethal force." Winter shouted, clearly not happy about her Blade's insubordination.**

"And I thought she was suppose to follow orders like a good soldier even if she's a Blade." Yang said.

" **...That wasn't even semi-lethal force. That was… mini-lethal, yeah that's right." Newt stammered with her pathetic excuse of an… excuse.**

"There is no such thing as "mini-lethal force"." Such a foolish thing that Weiss heard.

 **Anyway, Winter was not happy about the said excuse. But, for now, she would focus on making sure that Yang would live through this.**

 **The blonde's teammates already doing that… "Urghh." Yang groaned as she got up from the spot she was flung to. "Fine… I admit it, you're stronger than me." The Blonde grumbled loudly, finally coming to terms with her shortcomings. Unfortunately, halfway through getting up, all her limbs failed her. Using that final burst took what little heat she had left. "Urgh… guys… can you help me, I'm a little burned out at the moment." Yang said with a weak pun.**

"A bit tempted to just leave you there for that pun." Weiss said.

"Worth it even after a near death experience." Yang said.

"Would you say that after a few more near death experiences?" Luck questioned Yang.

"...Probably not." Yang admitted.

 **The team rolled their eyes at Yang, who seemed to prove that puns are encoded into her very DNA. And then two out of the three girls blushed for some reason. With Ruby giggling nervously.**

" **What?" Yang asked weakly.**

" **Poor you." Dahlia commented as she pointed towards Yang's chest while using her other hand to cover Roze's eyes.**

" **What are you doing?" The male Blade asked in mild annoyance.**

Did Newt just…

 **Ignoring Roze's complaint, Yang looked down at her chest… and saw a little problem. Her top had been cut in half. Jacket, tube top, even her strapless bra. And because they were just tight enough to emphasize her breast, the garments had moved aside to reveal her glorious mounds to the world. "EEEYAAAK!" And Yang grabbed the cut halves to pull them over herself.**

Pyrrha and Nora covered the eyes of their male teammates.

The Beacon professors looked away because that didn't want to seem like perverted old men looking at their young female student.

Penny… well, the scene didn't affect her to much.

The blushes on Ruby and Weiss reached the same shade as Ruby's hood and both did feel jealous of Yang's chest being in full view. Ruby covered her face with her hood and Weiss just focused her attention on the text of her scroll and did not look up at the screen.

Blake blushed and had a nose bleed from the sight as she continued looking. Luckily she had a handkerchief on her to wipe the blood off.

Yang blushed from the humiliation of her that was now being shown. At least until she noticed Luck just looking on like everyone was normal and that pissed her off, turning her eyes red. "Hey, stop looking you perv!" Yang shouted as she tried to attack Luck.

Luck as just casually avoiding the attacks while he focused on using Serene Light on Yang. "Don't mind us, just keep reading." Luck told Weiss during his little exercise.

" **Perfectly calculated." Newt commented, while adjusting her glasses with an evil grin. This comment earned a blanched look, not just from Yang, but her teammates as well' Dahlia too gave the fire Blade a very annoyed look. "She possesses an… adequate amount of strength, but she clearly doesn't know how to use it. Unlike me." Newt then explained with a smug grin.**

So that cut was planned. That just annoyed the female Beacon students.

 **Team RWBY, Dahlia and most of all, Winter, were not impressed by Newt's perfect cut that only destroyed Yang's top without so much as a scratch to her skin. "Newt… was there a point to that/" Winter asked icily as she pointed at Yang who was covering herself, all the while the blonde's eyes were red again.**

"She was quite precise with that cut." Penny commented.

" **Just wanted to show how such strength is wasted on her." Newt said savagely, earning a furious look from Yang.**

" **That's it." Winter shouted, snapping Newt into attention. "You're on time out!"**

 **That gave Newt a horrified expression. "But ma'am-" "No excuses! I don't care what you think is 'semi-lethal' force. What I consider lethal is you drawing your weapon. And you disobeyed an order to not use it." Winter lectured the now downcast Blade.**

" **ATTENTION!" Newt sniffed into attention. "DISMISSED!" With that, Newt marched to who knows where.**

Damn Blade using what ever ability he used and locking the himself in the cafeteria." Yang muttered with whatever anger that didn't subsided." So what I missed?"

"Just Winter lecturing and dismissing Newt." Weiss answered.

Just as Yang sat back down, the cafeteria door opened. The noise of the door isn't audible unless you were in a specific range of the door. Luck walked out with a cup of coffee in his hands. He hanged back and watched from the distance.

 **Team RWBY watched this exchange, completely flabbergasted at how the crazy lady was put in her place so easily. "...Winter… where is Newt going?" Weiss was first to ask.**

" **To my ship, where she will stay until I say otherwise." Winter replied, relaxing ever so slightly. "And now you know why dealing with Newt is a hassle. So consider yourself lucky, Weiss." The older Schnee felt the need to add.**

"I suppose I did. Thanks Winter." Weiss commented.

 **That put several thoughts into Weiss' head. If this is Winter's every day life with Newt, then the heiress indeed should consider herself lucky. Dahlia can tease some time, but most of the time, she's like a… mother? And now Weiss realized why she made that mistake that cost her a portion of her sanity. Maybe Dahlia is what Weiss wanted from her mother at some point. Sadly, she had to make do after her father admitted that he only married Weiss' mother for the family name. Dahlia is no replacement for how Weiss' mother used to be, but… she couldn't help but appreciate her Blade more now. Especially seeing how… rambunctious Newt was.**

The mother thing returned, but what the others focused on was the reason why Weiss' father married into the Schnee family.

"Did he just wanted the benefits for marrying into your family?" Blake asked.

He just wanted the company and a suitable successor. He admitted it during my tenth birthday." Weiss hated to recall that day. "He's the reason why my family is broken even though we are visibly whole."

"Honestly, I think that's worse. Having a father who is physically around but doesn't really give a damn about his family." And Yang thought she had family problems with the loss of her mothers by different circumstances.

" **What is it, Weiss?" Dahlia asked, finally not covering Roze's vision. The heiress had started staring at the ice Blade during her thoughts.**

" **It's nothing." Weiss said with a smile.**

" **Uhh guys… a little help here." Yang complained, still covering herself with her ruined top, and too tired to get up.**

"You did kind of brought this on yourself." Blake told Yang.

"Yeah, lesson learned. Don't call someone short or this will happen if they are powerful." Yang facepalmed.

" **Sure." Blake said, finding it hard not to find amusement at Yang being in a position to tease. Still, the cat faunus wasn't that cruel, and just went to help Yang to her feet. Ruby coming to assist. The younger sister took off her cape and put it over Yang's front to recover some of her modesty… whatever was left of it.**

At this point, Pyrrha and Nora removed their hands from the male teammates.

"Yup, I can see again." Jaune commented.

The professors are also able to look at the screen again.

" **Thanks Rubes." Yang said switching from holding her cut garments to press Ruby's cape against her.**

" **Soo… infirmary or dorm?" Blake then asked her partner.**

" **Dorms. Just one good rest and I'll be Yangin out in no time." Yang punned, which earned a groan from everyone, except Dahlia and Roze.**

" **Yang… Blake and I will drop you if you don't stop." Ruby threatened. How the red reaper was still sane after growing up with her puntress of a sister was beyond anyone.**

A mystery even Ruby can't understand sometimes.

"Hey, don't dropped the injured person. I need to be cared for." Yang said.

"Be better to just put her in the infirmary." Blake said.

" **...Shutting up now." Yang said, deciding not to test her luck. With that, Ruby and Blake helped their humiliated and dead tired teammate to the dorm.**

 **As those three left, Weiss also moved to follow, alongside Roze.**

" **Dahlia." Only Winter stopped Dahlia before she could follow her Driver. "I would like to talk to you a little." The older Schnee said curtly.**

"Just a last minute discussion before the end." Penny commented.

 **The ice bunny crossed her arms beneath her chest with a curious look. "What is it?"**

 **For a moment it looked like Winter wasn't sure what to say. "I told Weiss that I won't always be there for her… No one will be able to." Winter said as she looked down a little. "But as her Blade… you are an exception. So… can you look after Weiss for me?"**

 **Dahlia was a little surprised at the request, but nevertheless, she smiled. "you make it sound as if that wasn't my plan in the first place." After those words, Dahlia turned to walk where team RWBY went. "...Although… from what little I have learned about you and Weiss, it would still do her wonders if you kept contact with her every now and then. Even after you leave." Dahlia said before speed walking towards where her Driver went before Winter could answer.**

 **The said specialist did think about the Blade's words. " _i can see Weiss being in good hands."_ she thought with a smile before walking at her own pace as she fished out her scroll. "Still… _I believe I should order those bunk beds now."_ She even had a specific one in mind that she checked on a whim once. Didn't think she would actually by two of those. They would be pricey, but if the sales pitch is to be believed, they were designed to withstand rambunctious huntsmen and huntresses. The bunk bed business aside, it looks like Dahlia isn't the only one who has Weiss in capable hands if what the few good things she's seen of the team has given any indication… Or at least she hopes. Regardless, Winter now has two whole days to spend with her sister and she intends to make the most of it.**

"Believe me, Weiss is surrounded with good people Miss Schnee. We got her back." Ruby declared, speaking for everyone from Beacon.

"Thank you Dahlia for everything you have currently done." Weiss thanked her Blade.

"This chapter could have been better if the fight wasn't so one sided." Yang was still bitter about that.

"You brought it on yourself." Everyone told Yang.

Luck finished his coffee and approached the group. "Next!"

* * *

 **Ace Attorney: Phoenix discovers his ancestry and relives the past**

 **Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: new tourney type and may be in the form of highlight commentary.**

 **Fire Emblem x RWBY: inspired by a Fate x Fire Emblem work.**

 **Killer 7 x No More Heroes: AU! if not a one-shot then it's a short story.**

 **TWEWY x RWBY: AU! Blake may be the main character. Only characters that may not be changed are Hanekoma, Sho, and... Kariya?**

 **TWEWY x Persona 5**

 **Xenoblade Chronicles 2 x Persona 3**


	8. Prologue 3-1

**Caught the tail end of March and the beginning of April. I don't like set dates so I can't be late with an upload, but this chapter was delayed for two reasons. One is that I got hired for a job (first one) on pi day and my first day was the last business day and busiest of the week two days later. The second is that I was making a RWBY power chart based on similar charts I've seen for the Persona Series and SMT Series. Had trouble making priorities for the list so I primarily focused on what satisfied my criteria.**

 **One fan art suggestion I missed last chapter was Weiss and Dahlia at the café. The reason(s) I make the suggestions is that there are only two decent if not good stories for this particular crossover being this one and the other from MonksyD. I am also disappointed with what I found on DeviantArt. Don't get me wrong, the death battle concept of this RWBY character vs this Xenoblade character is cool, but it was repetitive and the only other piece of art that was decent was a picture of volume 4 Ironwood (in show) with a fan drawing of Morag and Brighid with even gave a story idea of a romance between the three which I don't plan on doing cuz I believe I'm bad at romance (not limited to fanfics)** **.**

 **The art suggestion this chapter and entirety of this prologue is Nox picking up a blushing Blake bridal style.**

 **I initially plan to end the poll at the end of Yang's prologue, but I decided to end it in Blake's either next chapter or at the end of this prologue. Regarding one of the options for Alrest before I made the poll, I considered Poppi by herself and Morag with Brighid. Poppi being a robot girl and can be the fastest realistically and by anime logic with her jet thrusters. I considered Morag because she is the fastest Driver in my game file and there were a few similarities to Winter. My Morag also has Telos. Being a dumbass, I chose not to write how the meeting would occur months before hand when the idea came to my mind so now I don't know what I would write for them.**

 **By removing JRPG inventory, I'm limiting how may Core Crystals will come into the viewing area. Just think of a Resident Evil inventory system. Other than Novice's OC Blades any Blade that I didn't unlock in my game without starting new game plus are fair game, even if I have the specific Core Crystal and didn't unlock them. Off the top of my head there is 6 that I'm missing. Probably gonna kill myself with how may characters I'm having.**

 **I just like to say that I'm not caught up in the main fic. Only read up to entry 50.**

 **If Zeke had a semblance I think it would be a weaker version of his Eye of Shining Justice.**

 **Edit: Apparently I can't post the list due to fanfic guidelines. Any alternatives before I just let that list stay buried in my computer?**

* * *

As soon as Luck spoke he got socked in the face by a somewhat calmed down Yang without warning. The was enough force in the punch to make him skid on his feet by about a meter.

"Um, ow." That was the laziest response to pain Luck could give.

Yang had some satisfaction from a single hit. She would have done more, but she was sure other people in the room would stop her. "That's what you get for seeing me and for running away."

"The first one I can understand. Regarding the second one, I didn't run. I decide to take a short break after our little exercise to get a drink. I can't enjoy a drink with a threat of some kind on me." Luck said.

To Yang and Ruby, that drink part sounded like something uncle Qrow would say.

Ozpin thought of the same thing, but he also applied it to himself.

Unlike the headmaster, Doctor Oobleck could enjoy drink with some kind of threat within his vicinity. Whatever he drinks helps with his movement speed and how he uses his weapon which his students haven't seen yet.

"With that over, we will continue. I believe Blake is next."

Blake sighed. "I just hope whatever Blade I awaken won't lead to any issues." Between Dahlia and Roze, Roze's awakening caused more problems. As much as Blake wanted to think it was Dahlia due to society viewing her as a faunus, she got a pass because her Driver was Weiss. The story would be different if Weiss wasn't the Driver of Dahlia.

Blake took a look at the title. **"Ninja kitty and the Dark ninja"** Then a blush slowly made its way to her face.

"Oh great. It's one thing that we know that Blake reads smut-" "ART!" Blake passionately corrected Weiss. "-but now we have to potential read and watch a version of herself living a smut."

Most of the viewers blushed. The exceptions we Yang, Penny, and the professors.

The Headmaster and doctor don't really care what their students read as long as they don't find inappropriate material during class or on the shelves on the Beacon library.

Penny thought on the supposed reading material Blake was into. She doesn't know what the titles were. She decided to to address the matter to WB. "Why can't it be both? Books represent the literary arts and whatever books Blake is reading just happens to be a smut." Penny had the most reasonable viewpoint. She doesn't read most of the time when she gets an interest in the literary arts. She just has the direct and related text sources uploaded into the memory bank she could freely access over the one she couldn't freely access. If something couldn't easily be downloaded then she would actually read the material herself.

Most of the viewers could agree with Penny. Blake, however, was a bit reluctant to acknowledge 'Ninjas of Love' and her other series as smut, but if the other are willing to acknowledge it as art through Penny's statement then she guessed that she could do the same. Now she tries to focus on her part of the story.

 **Dahlia was a nice person, so it was easy to adjust to her… form. Anyway, team RWBY had asked Ozpin to get a shot at another crystal. This time for Blake. Although she had to draw lots with Yang, because the busty blonde wanted to go next. As you can guess Blake won. Much to Yang's chargin.**

Yang blamed the lettering order of her teams name. Or Blake being some type of bad luck charm during the lot drawing on the pretense of superstition.

 **So here she was, with her team and her Blades in the arena, trying to make up her mind of which Crystal to grab. Of course, just like last time, the medics were ready for possible injuries she might get in case of rejection. The hidden faunus had already received the speech of how this is all optional, but that didn't stop her. The possibility of gaining a new power was far too tempting, and there was also the possibility of having a new friend. Don't get her wrong, Blake loves her team, but she sometimes wish she had someone who was a little more like her.**

"I knew you loved us. We add the needed color to your life. Same with Weiss." Weiss let that slide as Yang continued. "Pretty sure your Beacon life would be boring with another person like you."

"Boring or not, it wouldn't hurt to have someone I can easily identify with." Blake responded.

 **With one more breath, Blake picked a random Crystal as she instantly felt the drain of her aura.**

" ** _Please don't reject me."_ Blake thought as she couldn't help but see Adam's furious look in her mind for some reason. However, it looks like Blake's worries were unfounded, because soon the Crystal flashed. Brighter than with Weiss, so everyone had to cover their eyes.**

People witnessing or partaking in the awakening of a Blade usually do cover their eyes from the brightness.

(Play XC2 OST: Awakened DNA)

 **Once the lighting returned to normal, they were able to see the Blade that Blake had awakened. He looked like a young person, probably in his twenties or a little older. Dressed in all black, with what looked black bandages covering his arms from shoulders, all the way to the bases of his fingers, which had short claw-like nails. Around his arms were black armguards made from what looked like a metal so black that it looked like solid darkness. On his feet were a pair of sandals that you would see on the feet of a ninja with black socks under them. Next up was what he wore above his pitch black sleeveless tunic, a light chest plate that looked to be made of solid darkness. Though it seemed to be meant for light protection only. In a sash around his waist, right behind his back was a small paper scroll that ninjas are said to protect. Finally, we get to his face… or what little is seen from under the cloth mask that covers the lower part of his face. Not to mention the eye patch that was secured with three straps over his left eye, the straps disappearing into his wild midnight hair, and the eye patch itself had a glowing blue mark on it. If Blake's memory serves her right, the mark is an old Mistralian word for "forbidden". Finally, the Blades right eye which was closed until now opened, revealing a single amber eye with a pupil in a shape of a four pointed star. The said eye scanned the room as if assessing threats.**

Ren and Pyrrha can confirm the mark's meaning.

Aside from that, everyone sweat dropped at the overuse of the color black and the extra feature of the star shaped pupil. Blake had the additional blush on her face. Ninjas were cool and all, but this was over the top. Aside from the other details that had nothing to do with the color black they felt like they were staring into the void that took the shape of a humanoid figure.

"Well, Blake's wet dream has come true." Yang said with no subtlety, earning a blush from Blake. Blake was going to retort, but Yang cut her off. "Don't deny the truth." She told her partner.

Blake tried hard to fight back the blush that threatened to make her face even more red .

"Children, I rather continue with the reading instead of hearing or indulging in the topic of your… personal fantasies." Ozpin spoke the exact words Oobleck was going to say. It would have more impact on the students if he said it.

The students, especially Blake, got embarrassed. Blake took a moment to compose herself before continuing.

" **Wow." Was all Yang could say. "First a clone, then an ice bunny, now a tall dark and broody."**

 **If the Blade heard Yang, he didn't make any signs of acknowledgment, then his eye fell on a heavily blushing Blake who was probably thinking this guy came out of one of her secret smut books, despite the claw-like nails. Then the Blade took the scroll from his sash and opened it in front of Blake.**

From Luck's confimation, Dahlia is a Blade that already exist and can be obtained in his world. This could mean that Blake's Blade a got similar treatment compared to Ruby's Blade. Roze's image was based on Ruby and the image of whoever her Blade was is based on the descriptions of the leading male characters in her personal book collection.

Naughty kitty.

" **My name is Nox. May I know the name of the… lady I will serve?" Blake read aloud what was written on the scroll, which prompted her to look at her Blade with a questioning look.**

 **The Blade, now named Nox, closed before opening it again. This time it said " This is the only way for me to communicate."**

(End OST)

" **What are you, mute?" Weiss asked, clearly weirded out by this guy.**

"Is it by choice or can he only communicate with the scroll?" Weiss asked in addition to what her counterpart asked.

 **Nox seemed to ignore Weiss and waited patiently for Blake to answer. "M-my name is Blake Belladonna. N-nice to meet you." The ninja kitty said with a light stammer, earning a nod from Nox.**

Weiss huffed at her other's question being ignored.

" **Well, this is interesting." Ozpin commented on the newest member of team RWBY. Quirks aside, this guy seemed to have short claws, but otherwise looked like a human. Actually, the professor had to walk around the Blade just to confirm the presence of a Core Crystal on the Blade's chest. Interesting enough, it was in the shape of the letter X. "May I see that scroll?" Ozpin then asked the ninja Blade.**

 **Nox responded with a one-eyed glare, before showing his scroll with new writing on it.**

" **Over my dead body." Ozpin read aloud. He would've found the response funny if Nox wasn't glaring at him. "Alright then."**

Blake sighed. Her Blade was already going to some problems. Maybe this reaction to the headmaster would be the worst she is going to see. She hoped that was the case.

Ozpin wasn't going to let the Blade's message dissuade the rest of his curiosity about the Blade despite what a certain heiress was saying about him being threatened by a newly awakened being.

 **Meanwhile, the rest of team RWBY were having a bit of mixed feelings. "...Roze, I'm scared." Ruby said, not even sure what it was about this new Blade that scared her. It was like… staring at a human shaped Grimm.**

Everyone could see why that comparison was made. Humanoid Grimm are a thing, but the Remnans don't think they could compare to the initial impression this new Blade was giving them. A few did thing that comparison was a bit frightening.

" **If he tries anything, he'll answer to me." Roze said as he placed his hand on Ruby's shoulder.**

"And the rest of us." WBY said together.

Since Nox is now Blake's living weapon, she has to take responsibility for him. Extra trouble that came with her choice of awakening a Blade.

" ** _Why do I feel like I should sleep with one eye open tonight?"_ Weiss thought as she took in Nox's appearance. While he did look like a ninja, the first word that came to Weiss' mind was "assassin". A cold blooded one, that probably eats kittens and puppies, or anything else that is cute.**

Ninja can be associated with assassins, but all the students just looked at Weiss for the rest of that last sentence.

"… What?"

Yang knew this was going to sound a bit horrifying, but she thinks she could salvage it somehow. "So you think he'll eat Blake?"

"Whats wrong with you?!" Weiss and Blake asked in a way that made it seem like a command to tell them.

Weiss had more to her reaction. "Why would her Blade even do that? Does he need her alive to remain active?" She asked incredulously.

For the second question Luck knew that question was mostly true. There is one specific situation where that won't be true. Not that he tell them.

"True, but Blake is a cute kitty. Although, I think Blake is more of a sexy kitty than a cute kitty." Yang said openly. That was her attempt to salvage the situation.

Blake blushed and almost became a stuttering mess. "Just shut up!"

 **Nox then opened his scroll again for Blake." Are you okay..." Blake red aloud, before trailing off with a pink dusting on her cheeks. She will never get used to being called "my lady".**

"You'll get used to it fast." Weiss said. Only difference here is that it sound genuine from the Blade, not empty.

" **Yes, I'm alright. I'm just tired from awakening you." Blake responded before one of her legs decided to give up on her. Only, she was quickly caught by Nox who had put his scroll away and grabbed Blake. This made the cat faunus blush more as she felt Nox's arms through the bandages. They weren't all that muscular, but Blake could still feel the work that was behind them. If Blades weren't born the way they were, that is.**

 **Anyway, with some rather swift movements, Nox was able to support Blake with one arm while revealing his scroll again, which had, " Are you sure you're alright?" written on it.**

" **Yes I am." Blake replied. "I just need to rest."**

The viewers did hope that the feeling of being drained from awakening a Blade for the first time… or for any other time, if possible, doesn't happen all the time.

 **Nox opened the scroll more. " Where are your quarters?"**

" **...If you can carry me I can guide you. "Blake said, heart racing at the thought. Blake knew he probably just wanted to put her down somewhere more comfortable, but she still couldn't help her mind being dragged into the gutter. " _Maybe he will have his way with me at night."_ The cat faunus thought in a mix of eagerness and soul crushing shame.**

"FILTH!" Ruby shouted at Blake's thought.

Blake couldn't find any words to defend herself and all the shame she is currently experiencing. She can believe she read that about herself in front of her friends, professors, and acquaintances.

"...I-I'm just… gonna go somewhere else to reflect." Blake got up and left the viewing area. She was going up to the barracks with her scroll to continue her reading separately and to recover from what just happened.

"She may be up there for the rest of this chapter." Oobleck observed. "Any volunteers for substitute reader?"

"I'll do it." Penny volunteered with a raised hand.

"Team RWBY." Ozpin addressed the remaining members in the viewing area. "Please do something about your teammate's collection." He got a nod of confirmation from them.

 **Instead of responding, Nox put his scroll away and shifted Blake into a bridal carry. Then he just stared at her with his lone eye. With Blake staring back with her mind gone blank from all thought.**

" **...Uhhh… Blake." Yang piped up awkwardly after the silence had gone for too long. "I think he's waiting for instructions."**

 **This time Blake blushed out of embarrassment. "Uhh… Y-yes… Nox, through that door." As soon as she said that, Nox started moving. Honestly, Blake knew she shouldn't think like this, but right now she was practically living one of her fantasies.**

"At least one of her got their fantasy." Nora said. She still "working" on one of her fantasies to come true.

 **Yang wasn't sure if she wanted to tease Blake or worry about her being ravished. Assuming of course Blake's not the one doing the ravishing. "...I honestly don't know what I should think."**

The most likely answer was to be worried about Blake. Of course Yang was curious about which category Blake belonged in in relation to her reading material which she won't go into. Dom or sub? Most likely the latter.

" **I know I don't like him." Weiss said, rubbing her arms, which earned a worried look from Dahlia.**

" **Weiss… I think you're being a little paranoid." The ice Blade said, worrying about Weiss' sanity a little.**

" **Qu** iet **Y** ou!" **Weiss snapped lightly.**

Weiss' reaction confirmed her light paranoia which is unneeded.

 **Shaking her head, Dahlia had a thoughtful look. "I wonder… shouldn't we have used Healing circle on Blake?"**

 **That single comment earned several dumbfounded looks from the rest of the team. As well as curious ones from the teachers.**

"Wait what?" Was the reaction of the students. Most likely Blake's reaction too if they could see her.

Ozpin and Oobleck were intrigued at the comment. The name of the technique does imply it's function, but they wanted direct confirmation. "Do tell." They said.

" **What is miss Dahlia talking about?" Glynda asked in curiosity. The name was already pretty telling, but that's exactly what peaked the Goodwitch's curiosity.**

" **We found out that in addition to our Blade's abilities, we get some new moves ourselves." Ruby explained, earning a nod from Glynda.**

 **Weiss decided to take it from here. "One of the moves I get to use with Dahlia's weapon is Healing Circle. A healing spell."**

"Those new moves are called Driver Arts. When you awaken a Blade the knowledge of those arts appear in your mind as if you have been using them for a while. You get a set amount of new abilities to use with your Blade's weapon, some are unique while other abilities could be used by other Blades. When you increase your mastery of your Driver Arts those abilities they get stronger, you'll be able to use them more often an, in rare cases, may unlock an additional effect for an art." Luck explained the concept of Driver Arts.

Everyone was fascinated at the idea of instantly learning new moves as if they been doing them forever.

"Imagine what new techniques can learn to do with Crescent Rose. I can be all like- "Miss Rose, don't start swinging your weapon around carelessly. You may end up hitting someone." Ozpin stopped his youngest student who was about to accidentally his Jaune.

"Thanks." Jaune thanked the headmaster for helping him avoid accidental pain.

"Maybe I should put my baby away." Ruby used her semblance to quickly travel to the storage area to put away her weapon and came back.

Jaune was interested in Driver Arts because he had yet to find his semblance or be able to use any advanced applications of aura. If he could awaken a Blade then maybe that would make up for what he believes to be a lack of progress even though he knows he has been making steady progress.

 **Now that was interesting. "So then… how does it work?" Ozpin asked as he once again dismissed the medics before they got to hear this.**

" **Well..." Ruby trailed off as she glanced at her sister awkwardly.**

" **Just say it." Yang sighed in exasperation. "I can take it."**

"Alright, what happened." Yang commented. How did her other get that kind of reaction.

 **With that, Ruby went with the short explaination. "Yang got hurt when she asked to spar with Roze and Dahlia. Just a scratch nothing major! That's when Weiss tested Healing Circle and not only did it heal Yang's injury, but it also restored some of her aura."**

"WHAT!?" The students cried out.

"Extraordinary." Ozpin said. Oobleck shared the same feeling as the headmaster.

"Could I get an explanation?" Luck asked.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul in all living beings except Grimm which are soulless." Before Oobleck could speak another word or sentence, he was stopped by Luck who raised his hand to signal him to stop.

"Seems that aura, or rather the soul plays a major role in your world. I've have seen some of its potential in combat from the previous chapters. You could have a heart and brain, but if you don't have a soul then you might as well be considered the living dead. Aura is your shield, but it's also an extension of your own life in addition to your regular vitality. It's like a life augmentation" Luck explained.

"I see where your coming from Mr. Luck. Life is not something that can easily be restored, but we can do what we can with our technology. We can't say the same for aura which can only be restored via natural recovery. The recovery rate may differ between people. It takes no longer than a day for aura to be fully recovered." Oobleck said.

"Then the existence of Blades and what they could potential provide their bonded Driver can break the limitation on aura recovery." Luck then said. Then he had a thought. It may be implied that Blades do have a soul. They reflect the cycle of life. The experiences and life code they gather from their bonded humans gets relayed to the Aegis and new evolutionary code is sent back to the Core Crystals allowing the birth of new Blades and those Blade may potential become Titans over time and be able to sustain life that settles upon them. What would happen if Blades were given aura? How would that change them? Maybe this reality viewing session may show what possible mutations would occur.

 **That definitely caught the two professor's interest. An ability that can restore aura was unheard as far as they knew. There are some medicines and semblances that can temporarily enhance aura, but to flat out restore it?**

" **This is… revolutionary." Glynda said in complete surprise.**

Indeed it was. Enhancement did not necessarily mean restoration.

" **Indeed." Ozpin said already thinking about the possibilities for that… Or how troublesome it would be if wrong people got their hands on that kind of power. "But if that's the case, then… why didn't you use it on miss Belladonna just now?" The headmaster then asked, seeing that they wouldn't have needed the medics if that was true.**

" **...We forgot." Ruby said while looking down in embarressment.**

Weiss rolled her eyes. "How convenient."

 **Thankfully, Dahlia decided to be a saving angel. "That, and if Blake had been rejected, I'm not sure if it would've been enough to heal her.**

"Healing Circle only restores a portion of your life and, most recently, aura. It's not a full heal." Luck said.

"How many people can it heal in one use?" Ren asked.

"I know that it can heal three people at once. If you want to stress it then maybe four." Luck answered.

So up to three people are guaranteed to be healed and could potentially extend to a forth person. That a full team of huntsmen. Huntsmen and huntresses with low overall aura such as Ren and Blake can last longer in battle.

Speaking of Blake, she was probably freaking out she could have potential died even with Dahlia's help. Not that anyone could see her unless they go up to the barracks.

 **Ozpin nodded, seeing it as a good point. "Shouldn't you girls still try it now, if only to accelerate your teammate's recovery?" The headmaster then pointed out with a smile.**

 **This made Ruby jump into action. "That's right! Everyone, to the dorms." The red caped leader said as she grabbed Weiss' arm and started dragging her.**

" **Stop pulling me you dolt!" With the said girl complaining all the way.**

 **Dahlia giggled at the exchange before strutting after them alongside Roze.**

The students except Weiss either chuckled or had an amused look on their face. Even the professor found a bit of amusement in their antics of their students.

"This isn't anything to laugh at." Weiss said.

"She's right. All Ruby is doing is helping Weiss match her speed." Nora said. She low-key called Weiss slow.

 **Ozpin shook his head at the situation one more time." What is your first impression of miss Belladonna's Blade?" Ozpin asked Glynda who had been quietly observing the situation.**

"A silent, humanoid void of darkness." Every student said.

"Blake's fantasy turned to reality." Yang said.

"A being that threatened you." Weiss added as she referred to the headmaster.

Ozpin, Oobleck, and even Penny could recognized the kind of threat the dark Blade emitted an it shouldn't be taken lightly.

In the barracks, Blake's first impression was a fusion of Yang's and Weiss' impression but more aligned with the former.

" **...I'm sure miss Belladonna can appreciate the silence." Glynda responded after a moment of thought.**

 **Ozpin took a sip of coffee he had brought with him, before saying his next piece. "I personally fear for miss Belladonna."**

 **The response surprised Glynda. "What makes you think that?"**

" **...The way he was looking at me… It gave me an impression of him looking for an excuse to kill me." Ozpin said, remembering the murderous glare from the lone eye. But what he found odd was the fact the pupil in the said eye had narrowed from a four pointed star into two slits crossing each other. "I think it was only because of miss Belladonna that he didn't."**

So the dark Blade is implied somewhat of a loose canon with his killing intent and Blake is the only one who could control his behavior. She's got her work cut out for her. It's like she awakened a hitman who is bound to her.

" **Ozpin… Are you saying that miss Belladonna has unleashed a natural born killer among us?" Glynda asked in worry for not only team RWBY, but the other students as well.**

" **...I hope not, but until we learn more about his personality… We can't be certain of anything." Ozpin responded solemnly.**

"But with so little to go on right now, I think you should keep bad and worse case scenario in mind." Luck commented.

 **With that ominous threat, we move onto the RWBY dorm where Nox had laid Blake on the appropriate bunk bed and even tucked her in. Winter had kept her word and purchased the team new high quality bunk beds. "High quality" meaning sturdy. After all Winter wanted to take no chances of these new bunk beds breaking.**

They could only imagine what Blake's reaction would be towards that..

The old bunk beds will be missed.

"The old bunk beds gave your room a lot more personality while these new ones give it some class." Nora said.

"We agreed." Ruby and Yang said.

 **Then the dark Blade opened his scroll once again for Blake to read. " Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable, my lady?"**

 **Blake, who once again blushed at being called "my lady", could only shake her head dumbly. And she also had to resist her mind being dragged into the gutter again.**

In the barracks, Blake was still fantasizing when she should be reflecting.

 **Nox opened more of his scroll. " Are your ears not uncomfortable under that bow?"**

 **If Blake's mind had been in the gutter, it would've been dragged right out of there with a shock. "H-how did you know?"**

 **Nox tilted his head, before rolling the scroll back up and re-opening it. " Your bow twitches a lot. In discomfort, if I am not mistaken." The last sentence came from being rolled down almost like an after thought.**

Once again, thanks to Penny and now Nox, the students see just how bad Blake's disguise was and they they bought it for a time. How exactly are a pair of ears supposed to remain hidden by a thin piece of cloth?

 **Blake wasn't sure what to think about that. "Do you hate me now?" Blake shouldn't have asked that, but she wasn't sure how this Blade thinks. After all, Roze, Dahlia, Newt, and Adenine were very different from each other.**

 **Nox tilted his head, before re-rolling his scroll once more. " Why would I hate you?"**

" **...Because of my ears?" Blake didn't why she couldn't just Bring herself to believe Nox not minding about her being a faunus.**

"Once again, a being that is awakened in another world outside of his own. Even without that, why would he want to hate his Driver upon awakening? If he's quick to the decision of hate and killing, then he would have already done so knowing that he would just revert to a Core Crystal." Luck said.

That made whatever potential worry of Blake's life being in danger go away, but there is still the concern of other Beacon students, staff, civilians if Nox is out in public.

 **That earned a frown from the Blade. " I do not understand. Why would anyone hate someone from their ears?"**

 **Nox could never understand the relief Blake felt at something as simple as questioning why he would hate Blake for being a faunus. With that, Blake made her decision, she hesitantly undid her bow to reveal her ears to the Blade. "I am a faunus. My kind are hated by humans for having animal appendages." Blake told Nox who's pupil narrowed to a cross.**

" **Do you need me to kill anyone who hates you? " Was the next message on Nox's scroll.**

" **What!? NO! I've seen enough killing in the Fang. Please just… don't kill anyone. Blake said, fearing that she had awakened another Adam.**

Trying a get a specific Blade or just a rare Blade in general can be a difficult task like winning the lottery. In Alrest, some people consider themselves fortunate to even awaken a Blade while others consider themselves fortunate to get get a specific Blade they wanted. The latter despair get mad if they don't get what they want.

However, this is Remnant. Blades are relatively new to the world so most people don't know about getting specific Blades. Blake was thankful that she got a Blade, but she unlucky that she potentially got a Blade that could potential be another Adam.

 **Nox's pupil dilated into a star again before he re-rolled the scroll. " As you wish, my lady. I apologize for bringing you discomfort."**

 **The lady in question sighed in relief. "It's okay… I'm just… happy you understand." Blake almost said she was Glad he wasn't Adam, but she stopped herself at the last minute.**

Adam had been marked as a person of interest for the time being.

 **What Blake didn't know was that Nox had no intention of not killing. The idea of killing someone honestly meant nothing to him, but he's also not a psychopath. He knows that actions have consequences. And if those consequences would hurt his Driver, then he would do everything in his power to avoid those consequences. However… he also wishes that when they eventually have to kill someone, that his Driver will be able to understand the futility of her command to not kill. Nox showed Blake one more message that he felt she needed to see. "Regardless of whether we agree or disagree, know that I will always be there for you. My beautiful Driver, Lady Blake Belladonna."**

Ozpin could agree with the dark Blade to some degree based on all of his previous life experiences. There are times when it's necessary to take someone's life. However, he doesn't intend to teach and train his students to kill and prays that he doesn't have to.

He can't say the same for Penny since she was from Atlas. She is both a student and a military weapon. While he knew of her existence through Ironwood, he never agreed to play a hand in her creation or test.

Penny is not aware that Ozpin knows of her secret.

 **Okay, Blake was convinced that Nox was flirting with her with the last part. Sadly it didn't mean it was effective, both to ease her growing unease as well as assuring her that Nox would always be there for her. Just like Roze and Dahlia have been for Ruby and Weiss so far.**

 **And it was at this moment that the door to the dorm opened suddenly, revealing an ecstatic Ruby with a very miffed Weiss.**

" **Blake, we just remembered, we could-" Ruby was interrupted by a black bladed sickle that suddenly appeared against her throat, threatening to slit it.**

" **NOX! SHE'S A FRIEND!" Blake cried in distress, the previous worries returning thousand fold.**

 **Thankfully, Nox pulled the weapon away as he used his other hand to fiddle with the scroll. " She startled me."**

Not even out of the prologues and Ruby just witnessed two near death scenes for her. She thought that she could have had a hard attack and that would possibly be the third near death situation

Weiss was also fearful because that death threat could have also extended to herself.

Yang wished that Blade was real right now so she can beat him down. Ozpin was right to worry.

Team JNPR also worried for themselves, mainly Nora who most likely open the door in a similar manner. On second thought… Nora would have been fine or at least have the highest survival rate because of her antics.

Seriously, threatening to kill someone simply because they startled you is unreasonable, but it does mean that the Blade aware and reactive to his surroundings so he could be an exceptional guard.

 **That earned an incredulous look from Blake, and a fearfully confused one from Ruby and Weiss. The two couldn't see the scroll from their position after all. "You seriously threaten to kill my friend because she startled you!?" Blake was losing losing what little hope she had for the future by the second.**

 **Nox opened more of the scroll " Yes."**

Blake had been done with her reflection in the barracks, but now something new or, rather old, came up. Could she really not escape from the past? Could it repeat in a similar if not the same way? She remained where she currently was.

" **Are you insane?" Weiss practically screeched at the Blade, who didn't make any sign of acknowledgment. "Hey! I'm talking to you!" Something that Weiss did not appreciate.**

 **Nox rerolled the scroll for Weiss. " Yes. And I do not care."**

"I believe we just found the worst possible Blade." Weiss commented out of annoyance. First the extended death threat and now being ignored by a living, sentient weapon. All other Blades she had seen are improvements to varying degrees compared to Nox even thought she has yet to get through the chapter that introduced him.

" **How dare you!" Weiss snarled, already forgetting that she's dealing with someone who threatened to kill Ruby just a moment ago.**

 **Though it was at this moment that Yang, Roze, and Dahlia also entered the dorm to see the tension rising.**

" **Wassup?" Yang asked awkwardly, feeling a tension that could be cut with a knife.**

"Are you sure that attempt to break the tension?" Ren asked Yang.

"No." Yang answered with red eyes. "But I'm sure I can take him. He ain't Newt."

" **This maniac threatened to kill Ruby." Weiss replied.**

" **HE DID WHAT!?" Yang and Roze shouted in unison. Dahlia just looked shocked, while also wondering if Weiss had the right idea of being suspicious of this Blade.**

" **She startled me." Nox showed on the scroll. Unfortunately, the blond brawler or the rose reaper cared for it.**

" **YOUR DEAD MEAT!" And Yang went and threw a punch… only to find herself on her stomach on the floor faster that she could shout "WHAT THE HECK!"**

 **Because the moment Yang threw the first punch, Nox put his scroll away, sweeped Yang off her feet. He even twisted the unextended arm behind her back during her fall before situating herself on top of her. All this in the course of less then three seconds. Worst of all, Nox had his sickle in hand. Ready to stab it in Yang's skull.**

"Damn it!" Yang got embarrassed again by how easily she fell and was now at the dark Blade's mercy.

Everyone started to fear for Yang's safety.

 **Only to stop at the sound of a gun cocked at his head. "...Off. Weapon away. Now." Roze said simply. All the while others were staring in shock.**

 **Blake more so than other. "...Nox… do as he says." Blake said now afaid of the Blade that nearly killed her partner.**

 **It looks like Blake's words got through to the Blade because he dismissed his sickle before slowly getting off Yang.**

Deadly crisis avoided, but it didn't mean that Yang would back down.

 **The said blonde got up with a furious look. "Now take this punishment like a man." Yang said, flexing her left arm to get the soreness out of hit. All the while Roze still had the gun pointed at Nox's head.**

" **Yang wait." Ruby said as she moved in front of the dark Blade to block her sister.**

Yang could not understand her sister's action.

" **Ruby you can't be serious." Yang said, not comprehending why Ruby was defending this psychopath. "This guy tried to murder you!"**

 **Nox slowly reached for his scroll since Roze was watching the dark Blade's every move. Then ever so slowly and as non-threateningly as possible, Nox opened the scroll… right over Ruby's head. " She startled me, I reacted. What is wrong with that?" The text that faced Yang said.**

"The death threat reaction." Yang deadpanned with red eyes.

" **What's wrong? What's wrong!?" Yang became more furious at this guy's psychotic view. "What kind of crazy killer reacts with a murder threat.!?"**

 **Nox's pupil narrowed as he rerolled the scroll, this time not over an annoyed Ruby's head. " What kind of fool does not react to a possible attacker?"**

"He got you there." Nora said to Yang.

"Shut it."

 **Yang still looked furious at Nox's insinuation, but Roze relaxed a little. Although he was still aiming at the Blade. "Ruby was not an attacker. Do you always kill people who surprise you?" The rose Blade sounded a little too calm for a question like that.**

 **Now rerolled his scroll again. " No. I incapacitate them, before interrogation. But that… low class courtesan(?) attacked me, so I believe my reaction to her was justified." Roze read aloud giving a questioning look at the unfamiliar term. Nox nodded his head towards Yang, when the gaze was shifted to him.**

"Wait, WHAT!?" Yang shouted. Probably at certain term that was not the insult that most other readers got. She had no idea what the main insult was or meant alongside Jaune, Ruby, and Nora.

" **Low class? I'm world class, you jerk." Yang said in annoyance, earning a blanched look from Blake and Weiss. Dahlia on the other hand covered her mouth to hold back a laugh that dared to break out of her.**

"What's so funny?" Yang asked out of annoyance.

" **Yang..." Blake sounded out unsurely. "Do you even know what courtesan means?"**

" **uuhhh… S-s** ure **I do." Yang stammered, not wanting to reveal the fact that she didn't. "It** means… **a court…** la **dy?"**

Yang spoke the exact reply as her other at the same time Penny read the line.

 **Nox didn't even bother opening his scroll again, he just gave Yang a look that said "Are you an idiot?"**

"...Dabatably." Weiss said being as nice as possible.

"Hey!" Yang cried out.

"Weiss… perhaps you should tell her what that word meant." Pyrrha suggested with some hesitation which came from the fact that Ruby was in the room.

Weiss agreed. She walked up next to Yang to explain the word at a voice level only Yang can hear.

 **Weiss sighed, regretting her next action even though it was necessary. "Yang…** court **esan** mea **ns *** whisper **, whisper*." Of course she had to whisper it to Yang, because Ruby didn't seem to know it either. Thankfully.**

Weiss finished her explanation at the same time. Yang took the time to process the information.

" **Why are you guys whispering?" Ruby asked in confusion, Roze gave his Driver a look and a shrug as he wasn't familiar with the word either.**

Ruby always got annoyed when people were talking about things and wouldn't tell her because she was too young or shouldn't know it at all. Luckily for her, this was about an unknown term that she could easily look up because she had a dictionary app on her scroll since there was no actual connection to the CCT from her current location.

Usually at any mention of a dictionary or similar resource, people immediately think of actual books and forget about the online versions most of the time. This just happened to work in Ruby's favor. Had this been about searching for anything else people would consider looking for physical and digital media.

 **Then it happened, Yang's eyes widened before turning red again after Weiss had given an explanation with a look of shame of having to even spell it out. "He call** ed me **a WH** AT!? **"**

There was Yang's reaction after some lag time.

What most people didn't expect was Ruby speaking. "He called Yang a – hhrrnnp." Yang rushed to Ruby and slaped her hand on her sister's mouth to stop her sentence. "You should be using that language." Yang told her through her big sister/guardian instinct. "It seemed you knew of the word. How?"

"Dictionary." Ruby showed Yang her scroll.

Now Yang felt dumb for forgetting about digital resources for dictionaries and other books like it. She usually thinks of the actual book. If she could conveniently forget about digital sources then chance are that a few other people did the same.

Now Yang brought her attention back to the current issue that pissed her off.

" **Nox..." Blake started awkwardly. "Yang is not a courtesan."**

 **Nox responded with a blank look in his eye before opening his scroll again. This time revealing what looked like a list. " An outfit that was designed to draw attention. Poorly trained charms. Unruly hair-" "HEY!" Everyone was startled at Yang's offended shout.**

" **My hair is not unruly." the blonde said in annoyance.**

" **That's what you're focusing on?" Weiss commented in disbelief. Seriously that list has far more racy descriptions of why Yang would be a courtesan. Some of them even offensive, if you assume Yang has never slept with anyone. Something that no one in their right mind would question, even if the answer would be "none".**

"Any bad comments about my hair take top priority unless some wants to bring up my family." Yang firmly stated. "Poorly trained charms? Are you saying I'm a turn off!?" Forget about using the term "attractive" because this situation is on the next level for Yang. That level only contained "turn on" and "turn off". That level would be more applicable in a couple of years if not when she turns 18.

Jaune, being a dumbass, decided to speak with hesitation. "...A-and the rest of the list."

Yang gave Jaune a smile that didn't hide any kind of threat. "Jaune… I believe this is a situation that you shouldn't input on." That was just a warning. She wanted to avoid needlessly hurting Jaune if possible.

Jaune sensed danger so he had to follow the suggestion.

" **Urghhh..." Blake sounded out before flopping down on her bed and covering her head with her pillow. "Just let me sleep this off, please." The faunus girl whined, partly praying that this is all a nightmare that would disappear after a good sleep.**

"It could be a dream precognition." Nora commented. Wouldn't that be a small twist for Blake.

 **That reminded the girls of what they were supposed to be doing right now. "Oh right." Ruby exclaimed. "Weiss, use the healing art."**

" **Fine." Weiss sighed in annoyance as she extended her hand for Dahlia to hand over the bitball. As soon as the heiress felt the blade covered snow ball in her hands and felt Dahlia's power being supplied. "...Healing circle." Weiss made a pirouette with the ball and the gang felt a cool breeze wash over them. Seeing as Healing Circle is an area on effect heal, it affected all members in the room right now.**

" **Did it work?" Yang asked, a little calmer, but still mildly pissed at the annoying ninja.**

If it did work then Blake wondered if the recent conflict could have been avoided or at least put off to a later time.

 **Blake responded by giving her team a thumbs up before returning the hand to press the pillow over her head. *mumble grumble***

" **What?" Came out of RWY at Blake's muffled voice.**

 **Nox opened his scroll. " Still tired, she said."**

" **How did you even hear that?" Dahlia asked, earning Nox's attention.**

" **My ears are much more keen than a human's. " Was the text that replied.**

" **Are you saying you're not a human?" Weiss asked skeptically.**

" **No, I am a Blade. " Was the text that came out next.**

 **This response made Weiss' palm impact her face. "...Why do I feel so stupid for asking?"**

It was a stupid question.

The Remnans did wonder who Dahlia apparently didn't hear Blake with her braided Rabbit ears.

" **Anyway," Dahlia butted in loudly, while giving Blake an apologetic look. Not that the tired kitty cat could see it with a pillow over her head. "I believe we should leave Blake to rest. In the meantime, we could give Nox a tour of Beacon."**

 **Nox revealed a new text for everyone. " I would rather stay with Lady Blake."**

To be honest, Weiss was slightly relieved at Nox's decision. Had he gone around to explore Beacon then he would have actively looked for hiding spots and vantage points to carry out potential assassinations. He may even study the habits and routines of the students.

 **Weiss had an annoyed look. "You need to know where you are, and Blake needs peace and quiet."**

 **Nox tilted his head before rolling the scroll down. " I am not the one talking in a grating voice."**

"He's got you there Weiss." Yang said.

"Quiet you!"

 **To her credit, Weiss reigned in her temper. Only allowing her eye to twitch at someone insulting her voice. First, Roze insulted her intelligence. Then Dahlia insulted her figure, granted that was in the Schnee's head. And now, this one insulted her voice that she had used to sing in multiple concerts. Though as much as Weiss wanted to snap, she knew it wouldn't do anything. "So… what will you do then?" The heiress asked with a show of great restraint, surprising her team.**

Well, Weiss' singing voice and her everyday voice could be considered two different voices.

" **I will remain by my lady's side until she is able to show me around on her own. " Was the written reply from Nox.**

" **Even through the night?" Yang asked, thinking that Blake will probably sleep through the rest of the day and into the next morning.**

" **Naturally. "**

"Dutifully creepy." Luck commented.

 **Roze understood Nox a little in wanting to stay by Blake's side, however. "Unfortunately for you, we have our own dorm in which to sleep in." The rose themed Blade explained. "So unless you plan on sleeping on a chair or something, you should join ours when the rest of the team go to bed."**

 **Nox rolled the scroll back before having a contemplative look. After few seconds of hesitation, he rolled out his message. " I suppose I can join you two in this dorm of ours once these three come back. Although I'm not sure I can trust woman sized toddler, a pampered brat and a low class courtesan."**

RWY took varying levels of offense to that comment, but it did remind them of the doubts they had of their team during the first few days of Beacon. Yang and Ruby were more positive about the team back then, but the main source of doubts came from Weiss and Blake which did affect the sisters.

 **The RWY of RWBY each glared at Nox with varying levels of annoyance. Dahlia covered her face with her beastly hand and shook her head. "If you don't have anything nice to say, then please don't say it." The ice Blade said diplomatically.**

" **Why not? " That text was accompanied by a head tilt from the dark Blade.**

" ** _This will take a long time to get used to."_ Dahlia thought as she looked at the girls with pity. _"Especially for Blake."_**

Ain't that true about the dark Blade letting his thoughts be known.

 **As if in response to Dahlia's thoughts, Blake mumbled something incoherent again, grasping her pillow tighter. " Please be quiet, she said." Nox translated through his scroll.**

" ** _For Blake… and for me."_ Dahlia added in her head with a sigh.**

 **And with that, Ruby took Roze to finalize the last adjustments in Crescent Rose. Weiss walked to the library with Dahlia on her heel. Yang… she need to punch something.**

 **As for Blake, she stayed in the bed for the rest of the day, while Nox inspected the room for any possible intrusion points. Quietly of course, after all, he doesn't want to disturb his Driver.**

"This Blade would provide a certain experience for the students." Ozpin wondered how a Driver-Blade team can optimally function if one member quickly jumps to extreme action even with a small amount of justification or none.

Yang looked like she need to punch something multiple times. Luck was pretty confident the walls are able to withstand her power with receiving any dents. "Yang, go punch the wall or something."

"How about I let my anger out on you?"

"… Does anyone have a shield?" Luck sees Pyrrha and Jaune raise their hands. "I'll pick one out." Luck walked to the storage room.

* * *

 **Nox's Blade Sheet according to most recent chapter I've read does help narrow down the information for other Blades. Roze was done from my memory/reading with one think I thought he should have and was accepted.**

 **Weapon: Dual Scythes**

 **Element: Darkness**

 **Field Skills: Lockpicking, Dark Mastery, ?**

 **Blade Arts:**

 **1\. Back Attack Up**

 **Blake's Driver Arts:**

 **1\. Shadowspin: AoE, Physical**

 **Blade Skills:**

 **Shadow Eye: Disrupt your opponents' ability to recognize you as a threat (Decrease aggro).**

 **2\. Black Predator: Increase the power of Driver arts when the enemy isn't focusing one you.**

 **3\. ?**

 **Special Arts:**

 **1\. Black Mark: Slashes the air, sending dark ether in the shape of an X.**

 **2\. Swirling Shadow: Combines the scythes and throws them with dark ether swirling around the blades.**

 **3\. Night Terror: Charge the Scythes with dark ether before wrapping the handles in bandages and swing them around in a quick, wide and erratic pattern.**

 **Seems that Nox's specials are all ether based. I picture the first one being single hit and the target range is 'ahead'. The second one I think is a multi-hit on a single target. The third one is a multi-hit AoE attack.**


	9. Prologue 3-2

**This was nearly completed by Mother's day. Since it was late I decided to no longer rush it and take my time. Spent time with my mom and grandma. Let me ask you some questions in regards to Mother's day and Father's day. Why dedicate one specific day to each. Who ever put that day one the calendar, are you trying to say that you can disrespect your parents for 363 days in the year except for those two days and birthdays respectively? Just a thought I had for several years since 2nd year high school. In my opinion, every day is Mother's day and Father's day.**

 **The poll has ended and has been replaced by a new one which will last to whenever my next upload is for anything. It has nothing to do with future stories and is completely optional.**

 **I'm sure a few of you saw the link on my profile. I' might do another tier list at some for main and recurring Ruby characters from volume 3 and up. No guest or generic character listings.**

* * *

Blake just came downstairs only to see Yang punching away at a shield Luck was holding, Jaune's shield. She wan't going to question it and go back to her seat.

Yang was just about done. She took a breath and walked back to her seat.

The unspoken command for everyone was to not bring up what happened.

Luck took a look at Jaune's shield. "Hmm, no damage whatsoever. Could use a polish though. Count yourself lucky Jaune." Luck then walked the shield back to storage.

Jaune sighed in relief. Corcea Mors, a sword and shield set, was a family treasure that took with him when he falsely attended Beacon Academy. He tries to maintain as best as he can since repairs can be costly depending on the damage and he didn't know anything about weapon forging or repairs himself.

"Don't worry Jaune. I'll handle any repairs for your weapon." Ruby offered her help.

"Thanks."

When Luck got back the story continued with Blake taking reader role again.

 **Scouting and Practice**

 **Blake is an early riser. Something she picked up during her time in the White Fang. But today, she felt like sleeping through today. Thankfully it's Saturday, so no one would mind if she did.**

It's a Saturday so no one would care, but that was irrelevant. Blake carefully looked at everyone after the mention of her time in the White Fang.

Her team already knew in one of the worst ways possible which managed to be salvaged, Ozpin may suspect that she was involved in the White Fang in some way, Oobleck seemed surprised so he didn't know, Luck was out, and most of team JNPR didn't react.

Blake noticed Jaune's left hand tense up, gripping his knee. His eyes occasionally shifted showing that he wanted to say something, but he couldn't. The moment he shifted his eyes his sight landed on Weiss. Of course, Weiss would be the one to let out a major description about her to Jaune and, by extension, the rest of team JNPR. Blake will keep this in the back of her mind.

Then there is Penny who somehow knew that Blake was a faunus and let that information out in front of her team during her time missing. Blake didn't know what other information Penny might have on her so she had to be careful.

 **Though that didn't mean she didn't hear the chatting around her that she tried to ignore.**

" **What do you mean, you don't know where he is?" Weiss asked, pausing in brushing her hair. Sleeping in seems to not be in her dictionary.**

"You're not in Atlas anymore so add it to your dictionary." Yang said.

"It's not that easy." Weiss replied. Even with out an external clock, her internal clock always got her up by a specific time.

" **Just what I said." Dahlia replied to her Driver. "We woke up and he was gone." The ice buny said as she motioned towards the now closed door, beyond which Roze was waiting. Weiss had made it abundantly clear that she did not want a guy around to check them changing clothes.**

" **So where did he go?" Ruby asked. The adorkable red reaper was up exceptionally early, considering there weren't any lessons today. Though that was easily explained with her wanting to get to breakfast at the cafeteria before too many people started filing in.**

"Walking through crowds trying to find a seat sucks." Ruby commented.

" **I told you, Ruby. When we woke up, he was gone." Dahlia said with a sigh. "Speaking of which, shouldn't those two wake up? Especially Yang." The last one was added because it looked like Yang seemed to have a serious case of bad hair day… At least, that's what it looked like when the mane of golden hair seemed more unruly than usual. Which means the blonde brawler would have to spend the next hour or so in the bathroom trying to tame her hair… If she manages to wake up.**

"It's always a pain when Yang is in the bathroom." Ruby said with Blake and Weiss agreeing with her.

"She takes up so much time that the rest of us only have around 6 minutes each. We have to do a rushed job before we start on our school schedules." Weiss complained about Yang's bathroom usage before she looked at her. "Your lucky we can finish on time with a rushed job."

Ruby finishes her morning bathroom routine within in 6 minutes on average so it didn't affect her and that is not including her semblance. Weiss needed about 10 minutes for her routine. Blake needed 7 minutes on average which was a nice middle ground on time if she had to do things in the morning like brushing her hair. If she woke up early then she gets the bathroom first.

"Maintaining hair like mine is a well fought battle. It's why may hair is one of my pride and joys aside from Ruby." Yang added the last part to tease her sister which did gain the typical reaction.

"You don't need all that time. We should go in before you." Weiss stated referring to the rest of team RWBY. "When we are done you will at least have half an hour to do your routine."

"Nope first come, first serve. Either install a mirror on your desk or go to the bathrooms in the hallway." Yang said.

Meanwhile the other girls wonder how the argument lasted this long about bathroom usage. Penny doesn't use a bathroom since everything about her is mechanical and synthetic. Or to put things more simply, artificial. If Penny needed physical changes then she would go to the lab. Pyrrha and Nora take about 7 minutes max and they usually go in the bathroom together in the morning. It's not like the dorm bathrooms are limited to one person at a time.

" **Oh, you're right." Ruby said as she went to shake Yang a bit. "Yaaang. Time to wake up." Ruby said cutely.**

" **...Five more minutes." Yang mumbled, turning her head away from Ruby.**

The cursed words for a rude awakening.

" **Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ang." The whiney sound that Ruby made earned a giggle from Dahlia, and an eyeroll from Weiss.**

Ruby blushed from her cute yet embarrassing attempt to wake up her sister.

" **Leave me alone." Yang whined tiredly as she put her pillow over her head. The blonde brawler was clearly not a morning person.**

 **Dahlia let out a sigh. "I think it's time to take drastic measures." The ice Blade said while giving a questioning look to Weiss.**

 **The said heiress smiled with unusual mischief. Perhaps she had spent too much time around these dunces, but Weiss didn't care about that right now. Instead, she nodded with a frosty smile while mouthing, "Go ahead."**

Perhaps that is true. Weiss wished that this was being done to Ruby as revenge for waking her up with a whistle, but doing it to Yang will be just as satisfying.

 **With that, Dahlia went to the end of Yang's and Blake's bunk bed before applying her drastic measure. She grabbed the blanket and swiftly yanked it off the sleeping dragon.**

" **Heeeeyyyy… give the warmth back." Yang complained, still sleepy, but much more annoyed.**

"I was expecting her to let out cold air around her or something." Nora commented about Dahlia's lacking drastic measure.

 **The drastic measure had failed. "Amateur." Ruby sighed, knowing that something as cute as that wouldn't work when Yang was like this.**

"Ruby, your way was cute and less effective than Dahlia's method. If Dahlia's method can at least annoy Yang then she is on the right path." Jaune said from his experience of wakeing up his sisters with different methods.

Maybe Ruby should use the whistle more often on Yang until she developed a sixth sense to when Ruby would blow it so she can get up early.

 **Dahlia had a smirk at both Ruby's words and Yang's stubbornness. "Alright, drastic measure two it is then." With that Dahlia entered the bathroom.**

 **Just then, Blake decided to give up on sleeping in. "What is she up to?" Blake wondered tiredly as she could barely hear a faucet running.**

" **Dahlia's trying to get Yang out of the bed." Ruby said, wondering what the ice Blade was doing.**

" **...I got that much." Blake said in annoyance. "What I mean is, how is she planning to do that?" Actually, if Blake had enough presence of mind to think right now, she would be questioning how Yang isn't reacting to what is going on right now.**

Yang was a heavy sleeper at times which sometimes made her family think of her as a sleeping dragon. Now her closest confidants are seeing it.

 **Anyway, Dahlia came out of the bathroom with what looked like glass beads with intricate designs in her furry hands. "Now, then… up and about Yang." Dahlia said as she lifted the blonde's tank top that acted as her sleep wear, and dumped the beads in side. The effect was instantaneous.**

" **EEEEEEEEEYYYAAAAAAAAK!" Yang screamed bloody murder as she started flailing and rolling, until she fell off her bunk. Which unsurprisingly went unnoticed by her, other than her getting up and jumping in place like a stung rabbit. Earning laughes put of the others as her bed hair was bouncing frantically. Soon enough, the beads that Dahlia had dropped into Yang's sleep wear fell out, though some of them left wet patches on her top from melting. Meaning that the beads were made of ice, courtesy of Dahlia's icecraft. As soon as Yang had gotten rid of the last ice bead, she directed a glare at the culprit. "...Not cool, lady."**

Everyone that wasn't Yang were amused at at the wake up call, even the teachers.

 **Dahlia had an amused smile at that declaration." What do you mean? It was plenty cool if it got you out of bed."**

 **After about three seconds the joke set in and Ruby rolled on the floor laughing. Weiss tried not to laugh at Dahlia's joke and failed miserably. Even Blake who had previously been annoyed at her sleep being interrupted found herself chuckling at Yang's expense.**

Finally, a joke that was funny compared to Yang's terrible and forced puns.

Yang felt as though she has been dealt a double blow.

 **The said blonde was not happy about it. "… You're dead, Dahlia." Yang said with the most heated glare she can muster. Sadly… with her hair as it was, her intimidation index was zero… Okay, she managed to look crazed, but that's about it.**

"This is why I need the bathroom first." Yang said.

"Why don't you get some of it cut so-" "HELL NO!" Yang shouted, interrupting Nora. "I'm not letting anyone near my head with a pair of scissors."

"Believe me when I say that shouldn't happen. The first and last time dad took Yang to get a haircut he had to pay for a lot of damages. He payed, but we were a bit tight on money." Ruby then looked at her sister. "Yang, I blame you as the reason for dad being cheap."

"Even if dad was good financially he still wants to be cheap. You can solely blame me." Yang quickly answered.

Ozpin decided against telling the sisters of team RWBY about some of the hell their father raised during missions and only during missions. Back then Taiyang was only able to get around 30 – 35% of the payment from missions. That problem was somewhat rectified just before his third year at Beacon.

" **...I think you have more pressing matters to attend to." Dahlia said as she pointed to the small mirror on the wall.**

 **Yang turned towards the said mirror and saw the state her hair was in. Next, she tried her hair with her hands, refusing to believe her reflection.. And then the door to bathroom slammed shut as Yang dashed in there with a speed comparable to Ruby's semblance.**

"I think Yang is going to be in their for a longer amount of time now." Weiss commented.

 **Which of course prompted more laughs out of them. However, their laughter ceased at the surprised yelp from Blake. "Nox! When did you get here?" The faunus in hiding exclaimed. Sure enough, Blake's Blade was in the room and had showed writing on his scroll to his Driver that announced his presence.**

" **Just now."**

" **How did you get in?" Weiss asked, being pretty sure they would've heard the door.**

 **Nox pointed at the window while giving Weiss a look that said, "Duh."**

"The nerve of this Blade." Weiss muttered.

" **The window?" Ruby questioned. First, the girls keep it locked during the night. Second, Ruby was pretty sure they would've noticed the Blade climbing in. Third, "Why didn't you use the door?"**

 **The ninja Blade tilted his head before opening his scroll. "I was right outside the window. Getting through it was faster than going around the door."**

"How is going through window faster than going through the door? Our dorm isn't even on ground level." Weiss complained.

" **How did you open it without us noticing?" Weiss asked, having some scary thoughts of where he could sneak to.**

Then Weiss remembered what she thought of earlier about Nox possibly wanting to the structure of Beacon Academy for any potential hiding spots to cause "accidents" or assassinations and to study the habits of all students and staff.

Weiss hoped that wasn't the case.

 **Again. Nox gave a look that questioned Weiss' intelligence before he showed the reply. "Easily. If you had noticed me, then it would be because of my incompetence." Nox then had a thoughtful look, before opening his scroll more. "Or if I wanted to."**

" **...Let's just get breakfast." Blake said s she went to her closet to pick up today's clothes. She did sleep through the night in her normal clothes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have another set of clothes she wants to change into when she can. Unfortunately, when she turned to the bathroom, she remembered that Yang had occupied it and the blonde would stay in there for another hour or so. "How am I going to get changed?" Blake asked the obvious.**

 **Nox gave his suggestion on a scroll. "I could remove the courtesan for a moment."**

A good idea leading to a bad suggestion.

"DAMN IT, I NOT A COURTESAN!" Yang cried out.

" **NO!"**

" **And her name is Yang." Ruby said in mild annoyance. Yang's reaction to the word "courtesan" after Weiss whispered into the blonde's ear probably meant that it was some kind of insult.**

Low quality defense, but Yang was thankful.

" **Blake could change in our room, since we're not there right now." Dahlia suggested with a smile.**

" **Thanks." Blake said as she started walking out, with Dahlia in tow.**

" **Well, that's one problem dealt with." Weiss said as she returned to do some finishing brushes on her hair.**

" **So, Nox, where, did you go?" Ruby trailed off as she looked at the spot Nox used to be at. Key word being, used to. "...He really is a ninja." Ruby said in awe at the Blade disappearing without their notice.**

As cool as that was, this Blade has been proving the opposite to be true so far.

 **Sadly, Weiss did not agree with her leader as she looked around the room to ensure he wasn't behind her or anything… Actually, now she was tempted to check under her bed, just to make sure that the monster wasn't there… And then she realized how childish that would've sounded if she had said it out loud. "Did you forget that he threatened to kill you because he was startled?" Weiss felt the need to point out, before the childish team leader started fangirling.**

No one forgot about the death threat. They were a bit more concerned about Weiss' childish thoughts about the dark Blade. They all read or heard it much to Weiss' embarrassment.

" **Weiss, please don't ruin this." Ruby said with a pout, earning an exasperated sigh from Weiss. "Anyway, I'll dash to the cafeteria. See you there." With that, Ruby vanished in a flurry of rose petals. With the slam of a door signifying that she passed it.**

 **With that, the heiress sighed. Deciding that she had brushed enough to move along with her day.**

" **COME ON! WHY WON'T YOU STRAIGHT-OW!" And leave Yang to deal with her rebellious mane.**

Yeah, that's going to be a fell fought battle for Yang. Maybe her hair would come out on top this time.

 **Some time later, at the cafeteria, Ruby was having pancakes for breakfast. That's the second reason she was in a hurry. If Nora had gotten here first, the pancakes would've vanished into the infinite abyss the hammerer calls her stomach. Weiss was having a health porridge, despite Dahlia telling her that it was okay to have something sweeter. Blake was also enjoying her own breakfast, while Nox was standing guard. Speaking of which.**

" **I took the liberty of checking all foods in the storage. None of it is poisoned." Nox had showed his Driver, who. To her credit, only rolled her eyes at his overprotactiveness.**

"Mass food poisoning at Beacon Academy. My, wouldn't that be a headline for Vale news or even international news." Ozpin mused. "Fortunately I'm not foolish enough to let some thing like that happen. Not only could it potentially pause the operations of the Academy for some amount of time, but it will also reduce the growth of the potential defense force in Vale, the undergraduates of Beacon Academy."

Yeah, that would definitely suck for the people working their way up the life of a Huntsman or Huntress.

If some of the food was poisoned then Nora would have to thank Ruby for taste testing the pancakes for the queen.

" **Say… can he even eat?" Nora decided to ask out of curiosity. Over a few weeks, it has turned out that the Blades can eat regular food. They just don't have to. However, they have shown a need to eat dust of their own element every now or then. Not much, just one vial of purified dust every few days. A little more if it's raw crystals.**

Luck assumed that the ingestion of dust may be because there is a lack of ether in Remnant if it's not nonexistent. Not a hypothesis, more like an assumption...For now.

Penny was sort of reminded a bit about herself. While she can eat food like humans and faunus, she technically didn't have to. It just be converted into a temporary alternative energy source. Only her father and his trusted associates such as General Ironwood know how to restore her main source of energy along with how to go about her maintenance.

 **Still, Nora had asked a pretty good question. Nox's face mask would probably prevent him from putting food into his mouth… If he even has one.**

" **Do you eat?" Blake asked, getting curious herself.**

" **I can, but I do not have to." Nox showed on his scroll.**

"I guess that can help us save on food bills if we all at home." Yang commented

It is just a choice for Blade to decide to eat or not.

" **...Would you like a taste?" Blake asked hesitantly, offering one of her tuna sandwiches. It may be a little stereotypical, but Blake loves tuna. Then again, different cat faunus love different things, and not all of them are cat related.**

Yang was itching to test that claim, but decided not to.

" **Are you sure my lady? I would not want you to sacrifice your breakfast for someone like me." Nox even had an awkward look in his eye.**

" **It's fine. Just take it before I change my mind." Blake said evenly, trying to hide the pain she was feeling. Why was she going through with this then? Simple, if Nox eats, that would mean he would have to lower his mask. Which meant that Blake would see his face.**

Even by the slightest amount of interest, the Remnans wanted to see what was beneath the mask. Seems like that mystery would be solved here.

" **Blake you don't have to-Ow. Jaune's words were interrupted by Pyrrha of all people elbowing his side. "Pyrrha, what was that-OW!" Now it was a stomp on his foot from Nora.**

"Sorry." The female members of JNPR siad in unison.

"We can't have you screwing up this key moment." Nora added.

 **During this exchange, Ruby finally realized what Blake was planning. She was also curious what Nox looks like under that mask. Roze wasn't too interested, but that didn't mean he wouldn't sneak a peek if this plan succeeded.**

 **Weiss… she was convinced that behind that mask is a sadistic grin that he uses to threaten people for his own sick pleasure. Dahlia, guessing Weiss' train of thought from the miniscule changes in her demeanor, shook her head.**

 **As for team JNPR, after Jaune realized what was going on, they had a shared interest in what Nox looks like under his mask. Some of them more than others.**

 **But none more so than Blake. She was convinced that behind that mask was her idea of a perfect man. His personality might need some work, but at least Nox can be reasoned with.**

There were some varying thoughts about this speculation scene. None were actually important except for one.

With all that build up on the Beacon student's interest in the dark Blades face, Blake thought something was going to ruin the moment.

" **Hey guys." Yang suddenly called out as she flopped down on their table with a hugh plate full of various breakfast foods.**

 **That momentarily made everyone glance at Yang. Until Blake felt a tap on her shoulder.**

" **Thank you my lady. It was good." Was the text that Nox showed on his scroll. And the sandwich that Blake had sacrificed in her quest to see her Blade's face had disappear.**

 **Then Blake saw it, the slight movement of Nox's jaw before before he swallowed. "...That was fast." Blake commented, as the sandwich wasn't exactly small.**

" **Efficiency , my lady." Nox showed on his scroll with a nod.**

"This would be the only time we wished Yang took more time in the bathroom to tame her hair." Ruby spoke for all students, but primarily for her team.

" **What's up guys?" Yang asked in confusion, seeing as they were staring at Nox with varying expressions of disappointment.**

" **You wrecked their plans, that's what." Roze said before shoving another helping of his own pancakes into his mouth. He may not need to eat, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy the taste. He was even introduced to Ruby's love for cookies, though he doesn't share it quite to the same extent as his Driver.**

Another cookie monster has entered the fray, except this one is a debatable improvement.

" **What plan?" Yang asked as everyone gave her glares. "...Guys?"**

" **We were trying to see Nox's face." Ruby said with a pout.**

" **And you distracted us." Weiss added in, also annoyed at not seeing the true face of that monster.**

" **How are you going to take responsibility?" Nora said said while giving Yang a look.**

"That's not the correct phrase to use Nora." Ren said.

" **Nora, that's not how you use that phrase." Ren told the orange hair ball of energy that was his childhood friend.**

 **All the while Dahlia giggled at the complaints directed at poor Yang. Honestly, Nox will probably show his face when he feels like it… If only she knew.**

"We could make try several more times." Yang suggested. After getting no response she spoke again. "Yeah, too much work."

 **Nox wasn't stupid, he knew from the start that these kids were interested in seeing what was underneath his mask. However, they will never get to see it as long as he has a say in it. Least of all his Driver.**

Everyone highly doubted that Blake would give a command for her Blade to show his face even thought it would make the quest to see his face much easier.

" **So… what can Nox do?" Jaune asked Blake who snapped out of her depression of not seeing what kind of hottie would be under…**

" ** _FOCUS!_ What do you mean?" Blake asked, shouting the first one in her head.**

Ignoring that thought, this is a combat chapter.

" **I mean… how does he fight?" Jaune reiterated his question.**

 **That got Blake to think. She had only seen Nox take down Yang, and threatening Ruby. But those hardly tells how he fights. All that tells her is that he's fast. "I don't know actually… I would like to find out." The feline faunus in hiding said as she gave her Blade a meaningful look.**

 **Nox held a gaze for a moment, before opening his scroll. "Last night, you saw half of my weapon. The Dual Scythes. I use them in a variety of ways. Slashing, stabbing, sometimes climbing. Among other things such as..." The list went a little further, but Blake felt like she grasped the main points.**

At the mention of scythes, Ruby's had gotten stars in her eyes. "YES! MORE SCYTHE LOVE!" Ruby then jumped on top of Blake and they were face to face. "Don't worry Blake. Whether you have scythes now or later I will teach you how to use them." Ruby then jumped off her. "Then you will be like HIIYAAAH, RRRAAHH!" Ruby pretended that she had a scythe in her hands and did some motions which for some reason received a minor applause from Penny.

"...Okay, how about no. Not disrespecting your love for the weapon and the weapon itself. I just think you won't be an effective teacher." Blake cause by to slump and go back to her seat.

" **Can we… practice today?" Blake asked, once again resisting getting her mind dragged into the gutter by getting "linked with Nox" out of context. Poor Blake, despite trying not to remember Nox's flaws, she still can't help but fantasize about him. " _Am I really that bad?_ " The book loving girl whimpered in her head, while looking cool on the outside.**

"Yes." Was the unanimous answer.

At this point Yang thought that Blake would act out scenes of her books in her private time if she ever got a partner for it.

 **Nox seemed to consider Blake's words. "It would help you to adjust to our _union_ if you ever had some _practice_ in it."**

 **Blake gave her Blade an unimpressed look. "...Are you trying to use innuendos?" Earning surprised looks from the others. They didn't think Blake would call Nox out so bluntly about something like that. Nor did any of team RWBY think that the ninja Blade would even use innuendos… Those that understood the concept anyway.**

No one expected that assuming they knew what that meant. Maybe that book acting thought Yang had my be slightly more true.

Ruby looked up the word.

" **Not one of my talents, I admit." Nox shook his head along with the text.**

"Don't do it again." Blake commented.

" **What's an innuendo?" Ruby asked innocently.**

" **Nothing you need to know." Yang said quickly. "And if you find out then you can never be with Ruby." That last one was added to Roze who had his mouth open like he was about to say something.**

After Ruby finished looking up the word, Yang snatched her scroll and quickly deleted the dictionary on her scroll. "NO!"

"You don't need to some somethings until your older." Yangs said before she gave back Ruby's scroll.

That was Ruby's only way to know what some words mean. There is no connection up here.

" **...Alright." Roze said, though he was a little suspicious of the real reason Yang didn't want to explain it. "Anyway, if Blake had some practice with me and Ruby, or Dahlia and Weiss, it would be good." The rose reaper said.**

" **...You're not going to throw a tantrum again right?" Yang teased the Blade, reminding him of the sparring with Weiss and Dahlia."**

"I can understand the first time where he assumed the scenario of being in actual combat rather than a spare, but view the next spar the same was may be a bit… humiliating." Ozpin said.

" **...Can we please forget that already." Roze sighed. He received a talk from both Ruby and Ozpin about how sparring at a school is meant to prepare them for actual combat. It got through to him, which is why he feels ashamed of his childish reaction to losing to a spar. Though that doesn't mean he takes his duties as Ruby's Blade any less seriously.**

The prodigy headmaster and doctor gave a humble nod.

 **Nox, while curious, saw the information about the reaper Blade as trivial. "I admit, I am interested in seeing how strong Roze and his Driver are together." Then the ninja had a momentary thought before opening more of his scroll for Blake. "Although I must warn you, my lady. Most of my abilities are not suited for one on one fights."**

 **Blake was a little curious about Nox's claim. "What do you mean?"**

" **...Just what I said, my talents are best used with another ally." Nox explained in his text. "Although… If you give me proper Aux Cores You might be able to change that."**

Nox seemed like an attack type Blade, but he may not want to the focus of a battle. Most likely because he is a ninja-like Blade.

"What are these Aux Cores?" The good doctor asked.

"Aux Cores, are like accessories or mods for Blades to equip. They have can varying levels of effect depending of the type and grade of Aux Core. Some of their effect may be related to things you already do in combat like dealing critical damage to an enemy from behind when you are not the focused target. That particular attack will be enhanced. Some Aux Cores will give a Blade a boost when fighting in a particular environment or at a particular time of day." Luck explained. "Unfortunately, I do not have any Aux Cores with me nor do I have the equipment or knowledge on how to make them. I also don't know what materials from your world aside from dust can be used as a substitute for crafting them assuming dust can be used that way." Luck does have the materials.

" **What's an Aux Core?" Jaune asked, earning a surprised look from Nox.**

That question can be ignored.

 **Before the ninja could reroll his scroll, Roze got into his personal space to whisper something.**

 **During this, Dahlia had a very worried look, because the explanation given about Blades was that they were a new kind of weapon created by Atlas scientist. No one was told about the world of Alrest, including team JNPR. And honestly, who would believe it? Even Dahlia had some problems believing that she was not in Alrest, but she was much calmer about it than Roze was.**

Ozpin supposed that explanation would work for now. IT be lucky if that excuse last for most of the people of Remnant. The only bit of truth in it was that Blade were created by scientist or rather a scientist, Klaus.

" **Anyway," Weiss said, hoping to draw attention away from nox's blunder. "Maybe we could try having a sparring match with two man teams, one Driver and a non Driver for each team."**

Jaune, Nora, Ruby, and Yang thought it would have been easier to just say "three versus three with Blades".

 **That hasty idea seemed to get at least Nora to forget the unfamiliar concept. "OOHHH! PICK ME PICK ME!"**

" **Nora!" Ren shouted, stopping the orange haired hyper girl from getting any more hyper. "Let's finish our breakfast."**

"How about No? We need control and balance in the upcoming spar. Not chaos even though that role could be fill the that monstrous Blade Blake happened to get." Weiss told the second hyperactive girl she knew.

"Fine. If you wants to be lazy and have a disappointing practice session then be my guest. I always make sure I give and get the best workout." Nora relented.

The indication of Nora being in charge of group train sent chills down Ren's spine. He's was a bit relieve that the rest of his team and friends were not subjected to Nora's training yet. Ren also knew that Weiss most likely said no in relation to was was observed in combat class when Nora gets selected.

" **Oh! Okay, Ren." Nora said before returning to her food. With that, everyone seemed to be in a hurry to finish their food so they could get a read on Nox's abilities.**

 **The said Blade already doing a thourough analysis on team JNPR who appearently will be his targets… No! Practice partners. Important difference.**

"Umm… okay then." Was the unanimous vocal thought of team JNPR.

 **After the breakfast, the teams were decided. Weiss and Pyrrha vs Blake and Jaune. Honestly, Nox didn't like the arrangement because, if you ask him, Jaune is a pathetic waste of space. Luckily for out idiot, the dark ninja kept his opinion to himself. Oh well, the blonde boy would at least make a good meat shield.**

Jaune groan at the blunt thought of his inferior combat capabilities.

RBY gave Weiss a question look at her team arrangement, more specific the team of Weiss and Pyrrha. They knew Weiss wanted to be on a team with Pyrrha since initiation and felt like the matchmaking for the spar was rigged.

Weiss noticed the looks she was getting, but pretend like she was ignorant to the truth.

 **Although Dahlia clearly being a healer would spell trouble.**

The Invincible Girl's raw combat capabilities, polarity, versatility of Schnee glyphs, and a healer Blade. If Weiss had to use a term she learned from Ruby and Yang then her other's self's team composition would seem a bit broken. In her opinion, it was close enough to fair.

Even though this is 3 vs 3 match, it might as well be a 3 vs 2 match since Jaune is pretty bad even though Weiss had seen a bit of improvement in Forever Fall.

" **Fighters ready!" Ruby exclaimed in excitement, preparing the signal on her scroll.**

" **Sooo, do we have a plan?" Blake asked twirling the Dual Scythes. She wasn't familiar with the weapon, but she at least had Nox to help her. Only problem is, she wouldn't be able to tell when Nox was ready to use his Special Arts… whatever they are. Then again, according to Ruby and Weiss, not only did their Blades shout when they are ready, the Drivers also felt that the option was available.**

"I think saying the names of our attacks seems cool." Ruby muttered, but still audible to some people.

"Unless you don't mind warning your opponents and telegraphing your moves, its better to feel out when the options is available and do it without an obvious signal."Luck said.

Jaune, Nora, and Yang sided with Ruby while the rest sided with Luck.

 **Nox pulled out his scroll in front of their faces. "Jaune will distract them, so that my lady can strike them down."**

" **It won't be that easy." Jaune said, knowing that Pyrrha will probably be more focus on Blake and Nox because they are a lot more dangerous. That's not even counting Weiss and Dahlia with their healing power.**

" **If you do not perform adequately… No one will find your corpse." The text was accompanied by Nox's pupil turning into a crossed glare.**

Jaune gulp in fear and none of the viewers were fond of that threat. You die because of your bad performance?

" **Nox." Blake said in annoyance, even as Jaune gulped nervously at the blatant threat. "We're ready." Blake said before any more banter could come out.**

" **So are we." Weiss said, being a little cheerful about being partnered with Pyrrha. While she had long given up on her "master plan", fighting with the Invincible Girl was still a bit of a dream come true.**

Yeah, totally not obvious at all.

Pyrrha did feel a bit disappointed in Weiss, but she can easily forgive her.

" **Do your best, Jaune." Pyrrha cheered, even though she would probably beat him relatively easily.**

Pyrrha apologized to Jaune for that afterthought.

" **...Yeah." And Jaune knew it.**

" **Forget Pyrrha's titles! She is just an opponent that needs to be beaten." Nox practically shoved the text into Jaune's face.**

Pyrrha did want people to see her, past all of the titles and labels that people gave her which caused the great divide between her and other people. However, she can't honestly say she was glad when she read what Nox wrote. She wouldn't have mixed feeling if that was said by someone else as far as she thought.

" **Easy for you to say." Jaune complained.**

(Play XC2: Driver VS)

 **Thankfully, Ruby decided to ring the signal. Which Jaune took as his cue to charge in as a distraction.**

" ** _Idiot_ " Weiss thought as she launched the bitball at Blake, thinking that Jaune wasn't a threat.**

 **However, Blake dodged the attack and dashed towards Weiss, ready to try the scythes. The first strike was quickly blocked by Weiss' rapier, before the heiress had to jump back to avoid the follow up strike. Weiss quickly responded with a few ice shots from Myrtenaster, followed by the bitball. Blake managed to dodge the shots, but got hit by the sharp bladed ball.**

 **As Blake recovered from the hit, she suddenly had the urge to hit the deck. Which she did in time to see Jaune sailing right over her and straight into Weiss who had no time to react.**

Jaune couldn't take pride in the fact that he landed a hit on Weiss because of how the strike occurred. Maybe that could be considered friendly fire on Pyrrha's part.

" **I'm sorry." Pyrrha said, seeing where she had accidently launched Jaune to. The Arc boy was about to get a lucky strike on Pyrrha, which the red haired girl had no hope of avoiding or blocking. Thankfully for the Mistral champion, she managed to use her semblance on instinct to throw Jaune away.**

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha apologized to Jaune and Weiss for that combat exchange.

 **Blake couldn't believe her luck, ducking right before Jaune hit her and landing on a now very irate Weiss instead. "Get off me, you idiot." Weiss shouted as she managed to get the disoriented idiot off her. "And stop laughing Dahlia!" The ice bunny found the scene funny as did their audience.**

It was a bit funny for the viewers that were not being represented in combat.

"To be honest, that would be the only time Jaune is ever on top of Weiss." Yang killed the mood of laughter and caused Weiss, Jaune, Pyrrha, and Blake to Blush at that comment.

"Shut it you brute!" Weiss shouted at her blonde teammate.

"Ms. Xaio Long, please refrain from making inappropriate comments." The instructors said together.

 **But that's not what Blake focused on. The cat faunus had her eyes on Nox, who had his scroll out already. "I saw the idiot being flung and shared my instincts with you so that you could avoid him." That explanation made Blake glance at the energy cord connecting the Blade and her.**

Convenient. That might be even better than just having another set of eyes and ears looking out for a person.

" **That's convenient." Blake couldn't help commenting, before focusing on Pyrrha, seeing as Weiss was shouting at Jaune. Much to the exasperation of Dahlia, who was shaking her head with a hand over her face.**

 **To Pyrrha's credit, she instantly focused on Blake who was now charging at her. Pyrrha switched Miló to it's rifle form to take shots at Blake, but the cat faunus avoided each and every one of them with agility she hasn't demonstrated before. Pyrrha didn't know this, but Blades share more than just their power with their Drivers. This was especially true with Nox, who's now cross shaped pupil followed Pyrrha's every move, predicting when and where she would shoot. That information was being transferred to Blake who instinctively dodged every single shot.**

"Sounds like a broken universal ability." Nora said. It indeed is a critical ability for Drivers and Blades.

 **Then, just as Pyrrha switched Miló back into it's sword form, Nox decided to activate what he considers his trademark, Shadow Eye. From Pyrrha's perspective, Blake seemed to flicker in and out of existance. " _What is going on?"_ Pyrrha wondered in her head hesitantly as she wasn't even sure if Blake was really there any more. That moment of hesitation was costly because Blake used the Scythes to deliver a devastating pirouette strike on the Invincible Girl, dealing major damage to her aura as well as knocking her down.**

" **Pyrrha!" Weiss shouted out, unable to comprehend why the champion didn't block Blake.**

That moment caught everyone by surprise. Pyrrha, the best and brightess of all of the students taking a hit like that. That's huge for this fight.

This may just be a practice match, but if Blades can make that much of a difference, then could result in the first loss for the Mistral champion which would be very shocking.

Blake had another thought. That Shadow Eye thing Nox used made her think that it could be a possible variation or mastery stage of her semblance.

" **Why the heck didn't Pyrrha block?" Yang also said aloud because from everyone's perspective, Blake just dashed in and Pyrrha didn't even try to do anything.**

" **...Did Nox do something?" Ruby asked, thinking that that's the only reason Pyrrha would be caught off guard like that.**

It would be disrespectful and out of character for Pyrrha to just let a hit like that happen. Nox may have done something.

" **...Maybe his left eye has a special power.." Roze commented, noticing that Nox had put his middle and indez fingers over his eye patch moments before Blake attacked.**

" **What makes you say that?" Ren asked in curiosity.**

" **He touched his eyepatch before Blake attacked and I think the mark on it stopped glowing for a moment." Roze explained and Pyrrha was getting up.**

"Beware of his ocular techniques." Nora said. Had she been hyped up and woke by coffee then she would know that what she said was not something random.

" **...Blake, what did you do?" Pyrrha asked, utterly confused on what just happened. She shouldn't have been caught off guard like that. During her tournaments Pyrrha had faced many opponents, some of which had surprising semblances. But whenever that happened, she only focused on how to beat them. Never letting herself be surprised for too long. This time… it felt like… her mind blanked out.**

From the eyes of her other it seemed like Blake body was flickering during her charge and that she could have done something, but Pyrrha knew from what was just read that Nox was involved. She, like everyone else, is trying to figure out exactly what happened.

" **What do you mean?" Blake asked because from her perspective, nothing special happened.**

" **It was my doing. " Nox had opened his scroll over Blake's face so that Blake would see it.**

" **What did you do to me?" Pyrrha asked again keeping her guard up.**

" **That is for me to know , and you to find out." Pyrrha could swear that Nox had a smug smirk under his mask as she looked at his visible eye. "Are we still fighting?" Was the next text that appeared.**

"you know, I always wondered why people asked that redundant question. IT true that you sometimes get an explanation, but most of the time you just get a response similar to that." Luck commented.

" **...Yes." Pyrrha said as she threw Akoúo at Blake. Only for Nox to block it with a barrier that seemed to be a standard ability for Blades.**

" **Nox, attack from the right." Blake said as she handed one scythe to Nox, who gladly accepted. Blake thought they should switch tactics, and seeing as Nox's weapon was two scythes, they could take advantage of that. Besides, it gave Blake an excuse to dual wield Nox's weapon with Gambol Shroud.**

Blake at least got some practice wielding Dual Scythes, but she will still be unfamiliar with them for now. Now she can dual wield with a weapon she is familiar with along with half of Nox's weapon set.

 **However, Nox had momentarily turned around to check on Jaune and Weiss. Which prompted Nox to grab Blake and move out of the trajectory of a speeding bitball.**

" **HEY!" Blake protested on being held now of all times. She couldn't afford her mind being dragged into the gutter at being held like a lover… " _DAMMIT!_ " Blake cursed in her head.**

Blake felt ashamed that she can still think of things like that in the middle of combat.

" **I figured he was useless, but not this much." Nox showed on his scroll for Blake, which made her turn to the only "he" the ninja could mean. Jaune was in a block of ice with his eyes darting around comically. He probably would've cried for help if he could've.**

"Aw, come on." Jaune cried. Then again, he supposed being put in a block of ice is beeter than being physically beaten as long as he can handle the cold.

" **How did he end up like that?" Blake couldn't help questioning with disbelief clear on her face.**

" **Now that the idiot is out of the way." Weiss snarked, before readying the bitball for another launch.**

There's the answer. It could have been Dahlia too.

" **Weiss, do you have to be so mean to poor Jaune?" Dahlia scolded her Driver, having pity at the poor boy… Even though she had a slight hand in his current state.**

Okay, both were guilty for Jaune's state.

" **Poor Jaune." Ruby commented from her seat. The worst part is, the ice prison had some beautiful carvings on it. A proof of Dahlia having a hand in making that prison.**

" **I guess Jaune gets to... cool off." Yang punned earning groans ffrom the rest of her team and NR of JNPR.**

Another be pun from Yang. She got groans from her instructors, boos from her friends, and nothing from Penny.

"He never even turned up the heat." Luck muttered.

" **Boo." Nora had to jeer.**

" **Yang… No." Ruby said, not even bothering to actually scold. Not that it would've helped even if she did bother.**

"Booing across realities is need." Nora commented.

 **During this exchange, Nox and Blake had been dealing with both Pyrrha and Weiss. The heiress and the champion worked well together, but the level of teamwork they have is nothing compared to a Driver and a Blade who's emotions are literally linked.**

" **Dahlia!" Weiss exclaimed as she threw the bitball to her Blade. Dahlia lifted her leg high, ready to use Crystal Blizzard.**

So the use of this Special Art requires Dahlia to do a bit of leg work. Yang can get behind that so she whistled. She knew the headmaster and doctor were looking at her. "I didn't comment."

Blake knew why Yang whistled which cause her to blush.

 **During this, Blake felt what Nox wanted, so she threw her scythe to the ninjaBlade who crossed them in front of him. But Blake noticed an interesting thing about Nox. His pupil, that is normally in the shape of a four pointed star, shrinks into a cross when he fights or is annoyed. But now, the cross had turned, making his pupil an X. And then Nox swung his weapon, sending an X shaped shot of dark energy at Weiss.**

In Penny's mental interpretation, "Energy is charged and target is locked on."

 **Dahlia countered by throwing Crystal Blizzard right at Nox's attack. The two Special Arts clashed, ice meeting darkness.**

 **The two attacks struggled for a moment, before they finally canceled each other out. With Dahlia's bitball returning to her.**

"There is no elemental weaknesses her and their level one Special Arts canceled out." Luck said.

The others were free to assume that Dahlia and Nox were similar in strength even though that might not mean anything or be a wrong assumption.

 **Pyrrha had stopped to admire Nox's power that was able to cancel an attack which had dealt massive damage to Ruby and Roze. Then again, according to the teachings Adenine gave, level 1 specials are mostly equal in power to each other. And if nox countered Dahlia's level 1 special, that must mean he used his own level 1.**

That seemed to be the true, but if the viewers applied what they just learned about Aux Cores, then maybe one of those Special Arts would overpower the other.

" **We give up. " Nox showed on his scroll to both Pyrrha and Weiss.**

(OST END)

"Wait what." The students responded.

"He doesn't want to win? But why" Pyrrha asked. This battle was the closest she ever came to losing and she still could have lost if more strikes like the she took bacause of Nox's ability were landed.

"Hmm, interesting."The headmaster was a bit curious.

 **This action surprised the two. The audience couldn't see what was on the scroll, but Blake did after checking herself. "Nox, what are you saying?" Blake said, still in near perfect shape.**

" **There is no more point to this fight. I have seen Dahli'a abilities, and we cannot beat her if she is using healing arts. We can probably take down Pyrrha if we were fighting just her." Was the explanation Nox showed on his scroll, Then the ninja looked thoughtful before rolling more of the scroll. "Or if we had a more useful partner than that." The words were accompanied by a clawed finger pointing at a still frozen Jaune.**

"That's right, Dahlia's healing abilities have been claimed and proven to restore people and a portion of aura." Penny reminded everyone.

"Dahlia can drag out the fight." Weiss realized that she could have restored a portion of the critical damage Pyrrha took and assist her during battle.

Jaune was just in the fight, but he was no threat. Ren doesn't excel in long battles, Nora been denied participation right for the spar, and Ruby already had a Blade. That only left Yang to be on Blake's team for the spar and that choice would most likely cause Nox to raise an objection.

" **But we can't just give up! We can still do this." Blake argued.**

" **No. We cannot. I used Shadow Eye to get that surprise attack on Pyrrha. Something I shouldn't have done, because now she and everyone else can use that knowledge against us in the future."**

If a certain event of action occurred at least once then people will be able to learn and adjust so the same result can be avoided if possible. This reminded Doctor Oobleck a bit about his reason for becoming a Huntsman except this case was for combat instead of history.

" **So we just give up the fight?" Blake asked, getting angry.**

" **No. We end a spar. I want to use my full abilities only during real combat." Nox argued with his scroll. "Besides, why do you get worked up over ending a mere spar?"**

Everyone was reminded of Roze with that last comment.

 **Blake opened her mouth to retort, but found herself unable to. This made her wonder… why did she get so angry about Nox's declaration?**

" **Uhh… Blake." Weiss sounded out, getting a little worried about the argument.**

" **...I'm sorry." Blake said to Nox, realizing that her outburst wasn't about this fight.**

" **...So..." Pyrrha said, feeling the tension between Blake and Nox. Or at least Blake, Nox was hard to read. "Do we stop here?" The Mistral champion asked awkwardly.**

" **...Yes, we stop here." Blake said in embarressment, She had forgotten her opponents momentarily.**

 **As soon as that was said, Pyrrha hurried to thaw Jaune out of his ice, but artistic prison.**

Luck was glad the awkward moment was done. He felt like he was dying a slow death.

"Hopefully I don't get sick from that prison." Jaune was worried that he would look even weaker had he gotten sick from the spar.

" **BOO! Keep fighting." Nora jeered, wanting to see more awesome fighting.**

" **Nora." Ren said in a firm scolding tone, which promptly calmed the orange haired hammerer into just pouting.**

" **That was anti-climatic." Yang said in a disappointment. The fight was getting good until Nox decided to be a wuss.**

Yang and Nora were not fans of fight cliffhangers. Who isn't?

" **...He's a little paranoid if you ask me." Roze said, realizing why Nox gave up, despite not seeing the text from this far away.**

" **What do you mean?" Ruby asked, being disappointed herself at what looked like a good fight, despite what happened to Jaune.**

" **He doesn't want to reveal the full extent of his abilities in a sparring match, even though he probably hasn't even begun to unlock his potential." Roze explained with a sigh. Thanks to combat classes and some more sparring, Roze had felt his power grow alongside Ruby.**

Roze either learned a new trick or just simply got stronger when active.

Some of the viewers do consider it smart to to reveal everything at once since everyone need at least one acr up their sleeve.

" **...Smart, but paranoid as you said." Ren agreed with Roze's sentiment. Although he still wasn't sure how this Driver and Blade business worked.**

" **OH COME ON!" Was the shout that made the audience look back to the now particially released Jaune who had his head down.**

A very delayed reaction to being frozen, but it more accurately sums up the lacking conclusion to the fight.

" **NOX! You can't just say something like that to a person." Blake scolded her Blade angrily as Pyrrha looked like she was trying to comfort Jaune who got depressed by whatever Nox showed on his scroll.**

Probably better off not knowing what was written.

 **Even Weiss, who was in the middle of melting Jaune free with fire dust, looked apprehensive of whatever Nox "said" to Jaune. "...Dahlia… Do you still think I'm wrong?" The heiress asked her Blade who had previously questioned Weiss' apprehension of Nox.**

 **The said ice Blade looked worried. "I'm starting to think you might be onto something."**

"I knew that Blade was some type of monster." Weiss said.

" **What are they talking about?" Ruby asked, utterly confused.**

" **...I think Blake's fantasy just turned into a nightmare." Yang said, not sure if she should laugh or be worried about their vomit boy looking so miserable.**

Blake is starting to think that Yang's other might be right. However, this is only the beginning of problems with Nox.

" **I'm gonna break his legs." Nora said evilly. No one messes with her like that.**

"Ineffective." Was the only thing Luck said.

" **Nora, he's a inja. Do you honestly think you can catch him." Ren pointed out, having heard how he disappears and reappears when ever he pleases from team RWBY.**

" **I don't need to catch him. I just need him hurting." Nora counter argued.**

"But you have to catch him in order to hurt him." Ren countered which silenced Nora before she could support her other.

 **Roze shook his head. Even if Nora did break Nox's legs, he would just recover from it. After all, even if Blades are hurt, they will just recover from any injury in moments… Unless you destroy their Core Crystal, which is easier said than done, but still possible. " _Hopefully, we'll never need to reveal that."_ Roze thought grimly, although even if an opponent went after their Cores, it would be hard to get past their Drivers. And that's assuming that the Blades themselves won't fight back if they are attacked.**

Unfortunately, everyone now knew that the exposed Cores of Blades are the weak point. They may not know the durability of active Cores, but they do know that the Core is defended by the Driver and Blade respectively.

"So far, I think Blake has the most... disappointing prologue." Weiss said trying to be as nice as possible for what she had seen.

"The black cat luck strikes again."Yang tease Blake on her misfortune. The first time being her unintended reveal of being a faunus. "Let's finish this so we can get to the awesomeness that is me."

* * *

 **Next upload would be for Castlevania since I decided to look up anything new (to me) in regards to season 3. We also got release dates for Bloodstained RotN which is my second reason to do Castlevania.**


	10. Prologue 3-3

**"Alright, time to do Resid-" *Beep***

 **"Yes"?**

 _ **"When is the next chapter for BoRCC?"**_

 **"...Coming up." *hangs up* "Right when I decided what to do."**

 **"To all of you, reading I do have poll up on profile. Also my minimum uploads per month will be 0 while the potential maximum is 3 under certain conditions.**

* * *

 **AN 2: Yesterday was suppose to be a good day. finished recovering from a heath problem cause by a high calcium intake I experience a week ago which landed me in a hospital for a day, had pizza, and I had the motivation to start and complete this chapter within a day.**

 **Later that day I received news from my brother that my favorite streamer on the east coast of the U.S, Etika, has been confirmed dead. I took it seriously and looked up the information about that and got my proof. I actually thought something like this may happen due to what YouTube was doing and what a portion of the people in his community were doing that may have influence the incident with their BS. That news caused me to delay this upload until today and take an hour walk. Now I got to find someone on east coast similar enough to Etika to watch. I'm leaning towards RETRO.**

 **Anyways, I know I would at least miss him. The rules of his streams will apply to me and who ever views my entries. Please remember:**

 **JOYCON BOYZ FOREVER**

 **JOYCON GIRLZ FOREVER**

 **JOYCON MEN FOREVER**

 **JOYCON WOMEN FOREVER**

* * *

Blake told herself that it was almost over. Reading a story about herself, or at least this prologue, is very different from reading a story that allows the reader to self-insert themselves or just picturing herself as an existing character. This story doesn't use self-insert.

Blake hoped something happens that doesn't make her prologue worse. Ruby and Weiss had good introductions and Yang was still a wild card. However it seems that Yang is already has a bad start through Blake's prologue. At worst, Blake suspected Yangs trailer to be as bad as her own.

 **Discipline and Differences**

 **Adjusting to Nox was… difficult for team RWBY. The dark ninja had a bad habit of sneaking around wherever he damn pleases. However, it was his latest stunt that made Blake more fearful of being hated than ever. Not for being a faunus, because even Weiss managed to change her views after their fight that nearly tore their team apart. But rather… for her inability to keep Nox in line. What was the problem? This morning Nox had apologized to Yang for all the times he called her a courtesan. When asked at first why, Nox replied with "I realized that I have no evidence of Yang being a courtesan." While the rest of the team accepted the explanation, Blake felt there was more to it than that. So our lovable cat faunus confronted Nox about it, and to her horror, Nox claimed to have checked that Yang's hymen was intact. Blake gaped like a fish on dry land at that information.**

There was an unspoken suggestion that everyone that wasn't Yang followed. Get out before being consumed by an explosion. No one was slow moving to the cafeteria which had several bench tables which were bolted to the floor, a food bar which showed a rather large kitchen behind it from the entrance, a hallway in the back leading to food storage and cleaning supplies, and a set of monitors on opposite walls. There were two monitors per wall.

"She won't really do any damage to this entire structure even if she tried. I'll still lock the door for extra security just in case that berserker walking in with rage." Luck said.

Ruby can hear an enraged Yang from across the area they were just in. This might be worse compared to when Yang finds her hair damaged or mishandled in one way or another.

While the ladies had the same thought at the beginning, Weiss was the one who was vocal about it first. "I...I… can't believe that Blade. How can he easily ignore the personal privacy of a woman?"

"I...I don't know. I know that we have a negative reception to Nox for the most part, but this was unexpected." Blake wasn't sure what to do with that information.

"Professor Ozpin, can we label this as a form of sexual harassment on school grounds?" The heiress asked. She wanted justice to be served. She also thought none of this could possible happen or not be as bad if Yang had changed her wardrobe.

"You can, but I will be unable to do anything about it because it hasn't happened to any of my female students and Blades have yet to exist on Remnant's surface. I'm afraid that nothing can really be done." Ozpin inform the heiress.

How to deal with that situation is up to the alternate selves of team RWBY.

Ozpin and Oobleck decided to get some coffee since they can smell a pot already made.

" **How?" She had asked in disbelief.**

" **In her sleep." Nox replied, looking like he didn't just admit doing an invasion like that.**

"That adds to the crime!" Weiss shouted.

Had that been done when Yang was awake then more than just the room would be destroyed.

"… **Why did you do that?" Blake asked, dreading the answer.**

" **There was no other way to confirm how muck… Action she gets." Nox showed, looking thoughtful to emphasize the last part.**

" **Nox… You don't just do that." Blake snapped at her Blade basically violating Yang without the poor blonde even knowing it.**

That alone isn't enough. Blake thought that she should say more.

" **Why not? It was the fastest way to confirm her claims." Nox showed on his scroll with a head tilt.**

….

 **Blake felt like tearing her hair out at that kind of argument. Was Nox really this ignorant? Or was he just messing with her. "...Nox… If you found out someone touched me without my consent, what would you do?" Blake asked, trying to get her point across seeing as he doesn't seem to care about anyone other than her.**

" **I would gut the perpetrator like a fish.** **" Nox replied with a hard look.**

 **Blake returned the look with one of her own. "Good, because then you know how I feel about you doing that to my friend." The cat faunus added.**

 **The ninja's eyes widen at Blake's words. Then he opened his scroll hesitantly. "I'm sorry, my lady. I didn't consider how my actions might affect you. Please, punish me any way you see fit." At the end of the text, Nox kneeled before Blake, waiting for his punishment.**

"Blake, I approve of you using your Blade's actions against him in this instance." Weiss said.

Blake heard her, but her mind was somewhere else. She was thinking about a book, or rather an unpublished script she special ordered in the past from a shady website. It was similar to Ninjas of Love, but had certain themes that would make her wish she was the dominate person in a relationship and the only book to make her think that.

The unpublished script was only available in the southern part of the Anima continent. To her, it was an unpublished hidden gem. She did wonder how the author felt about the story being rejected twice.

 **The cat faunus quickly looked around the hallway she had dragged him into. Thankfully, no students were moving here right now to see this embarrassing situation. But that won't be the case in the next five minutes. "Look, lets talked about this later. We need to get to class right now." Blake said, not wanting to think about this moment. And that's ignoring the fact that Nox wasn't even sorry about what she did to Yang for the right reasons… How did he even do it without waking her up? " _I don't want to know._ " Blake decided in her head. More importantly, she had to make sure that Yang will never find out, or Weiss for that matter. She can't imagine the amount of trauma or paranoia this could cause them.**

The viewers ignored the obvious typo the pronoun 'she' to refer to Nox, Maybe Klaus didn't care to proof read this story before they received it. Nox is clearly male, not female. Ruby and Penny were reminded of a conversation they had in a particular lost incident.

The viewers also rather not know how exactly Nox did what he did. It may not just trigger another fit of rage from Yang, but from some one else as well. Everyone hoped this isn't brought up later with explanations, but the possibility remains.

 **Blake had tried, really she did, but the poor girl was unable to get her mind off of Nox's transgression. Actually, her brain that has long since be tainted by smut books, started picturing everything Nox can do without anyone's knowledge. Sneaking into lockers, showers… or even other dorms and have his wicked ways with anyone. Though the worst part is, her thoughts were interrupting with history class that any same person had a hard time following.**

The most optimal class to ponder this entire situation would Grimm Studies with Port. Unfortunately that is not the case because now…

"Children." Oobleck called out to all the students, but mainly main the group that makes team RWBY. "While you may have witnessed a very serious matter occur and not have a great amount time to handle it, I advise not to let distract from my class. I know that everyone in my class struggles to keep up with my lectures which why I switched to decaf while teaching and use my regular coffee when I'm not. If you don't learn about history then your destined to repeat it." The long-winded doctor said. He didn't hate decaf, but he can't say he like it either.

Ozpin delayed one gulp of his coffee at the mention of repeating history.

The students thought the coffee thing was either a lie or the doctor was naturally long-winded. They are starting to think its the latter if the doctor drink drinking decaf was true.

"Does the coffee have caffeine in it?" Jaune asked.

"Plenty of it Mr. Arc and the blend is considerably dark. Just the way I like it." Oobleck answered.

Ozpin likes his coffee black too, but he will sometimes add hot chocolate to it. Milk and cream just doesn't sit right with him.

" **Say..." Yang whispered to Nox, who was sitting between the blonde and Blake, wondering about something that she felt she should have asked before. "Why didn't you ever call Dahlia a courtesan?"**

The implication was in Weiss's prologue when Dahlia first appeared, but that thought quickly went away once everyone saw how Dahlia interacted with Weiss and that was just a glimpses into Dahlia's characters.

 **That question momentarily cut Blake's train of thought. That seemed actually, like a good question, given Dahlia's apparel.**

 **Nox used one hand to fish out his scroll while writing notes with the other. It wasn't mandatory for any of the Blades to take any kind of notes during classes, but Nox had decided to make himself useful by taking notes for Blake. Anyway… "Because Dahila doesn't carry herself like one." Was the simple reply.**

" **What's that supposed to mean?" Yang whispered in annoyance.**

Thankfully Yang wasn't here to listen, but the is the possibility that she might be reading along despite her rage at what happened.

It was also a bit of a surprise That Nox could keep up with doctor Oobleck's lecture and the put a small small in his face. Finally, someone can keep up with him.

" **You carry yourself with a clear purpose of flaunting your body. That's why I mistook you for a courtesan."**

" **Doesn't Dahlia flaunt her body too?" Yang asked, seeing as Dahlia always did have a certain… gait that swung her hips and made her breast bounce ever so slightly.**

The males and Blake did admit to themselves that Dahila's gait was not forceed and was a bit arousing.

" **If your talking about her walk that emphasizes her hips, that movement comes as naturally to her a breathing does to you. She doesn't put any extra effort into it, unlike you." Nox showed on his scroll, never pausing in writing his notes. Then he rolled the scroll some more. "Nor does she attempt to seduce people around her to mask her insecurities."**

 **That last one made Yang flinch. Before the anger set in, "You don't know what your talking about creep."**

"Yeah, that is kinda creepy." Nora agreed with the other Yang.

 **Now Blake glanced at the situation in worry. Nox didn't mince words when speaking his mind. He gives it straight and bluntly, never considering the other person's feelings… Something Blake has been wondering if he is even capable of lately.**

" **It's all in the way you..." Nox's scroll was snatched away by Blake who read what her Blade was about to say.**

 **She gave him a disapproving look. "No." That simple command made Nox hang his head in shame of disapproving his Driver again.**

" **What did he write?" Yang whispered loudly so Blake could hear her.**

" **Trust me Yang, you don't want to know." Blake said, confiscating Nox's scroll for now. Which also robbed the ninja of his ability to speak… That gave Blake an idea for punishment. "For the rest of the day, you're not allowed to communicate through writing."**

"Minor punishment, but I suppose it would do for now." Blake said.

"Now we can hear this beast real voice. It's not like he can't talk forever." Weiss wanted more evidence on Nox true nature.

"You know he is a ninja. Since Blake took his scroll I doubt the Nox would actively get it back, but what he pulled out spare scroll or several." Luck pointed out. "Actually, no. Nox seems like the type to obey whatever you say.

Blake hoped that whatever writing magic Nox used to speak through scrolls only applies to the scroll her other confiscated.

 **That declaration made Nox's visible eye widen in alarm, before trying to express his thoughts through motions and what apparently was supposed to be sign language. Supposed to be, being the operative part.**

" **I don't understand what your trying to say." Blake said, turning her heart into stone. She had to put her foot down now or Nox will be completely uncontrollable. Honestly, this punishment felt tiny compared to Nox's transgressions. If the poor Blade didn't look so distressed, that is. "But my decision is final." Blake declared before returning her attention to the class.**

 **Then the ninja felt a tap on his shoulder, which prompted him to turn to a smirking Yang. The blonde made a whipping motion, complete with the sound effect for a whiplash. The dark ninja glared at the blonde with his cross pupil.**

"Leave it to Yang to promote problems." Ruby said

" **Nox, behave." Only to become depressed when Blake gave that command.**

" **Is there a problem miss Belladonna?" Oobleck asked, noticing the last part.**

" **No, professor. Nox was being out of line." Blake said quickly, causing the Blade to fall deeper into the pit of depression.**

" **...I see." Oobleck commented a skeptically, but decided to move on with the class. All the while Adenine was reading the giant book attached to her. Although she was still assisting Oobleck whenever she needed to.**

"Just this once, I will let the situation slide. I'd rather not have chaos erupted in my lecture hall. Delays result in less time, for me to teach and less time for all students. You will remain ignorant to the history of the world and will be destined to repeat history." Oobleck gave his impromptu speech at a speed that the younger generation can keep up with.

Penny took the lesson in stride. Ruby, Jaune, and Nora slumped at being given a lesson now even though they knew that what the eccentric doctor said will be put into practical use when they eventually finish this story. There wasn't even the promise of extra credit.

Opzin wished the kids will listen to Oobleck. He didn't want them to repeats the mistakes he has seen or done throughout his multiple lives.

 **Speaking of which, Adenine looked like she remembered something as she paused in her reading. "Oh, Barty! I almost forgot, I finished writing the questions last night." the literal book lady said to her Driver.**

" **Oh, that's right! But you didn't have to do that." Oobleck told Adenine, still feeling a little bad about her doing that.**

" **Oh no. You need to sleep. If you had overworked yourself, your brain would not be able to function properly."Adenine replied with a smile.**

" **Umm… Yes, that is quite right." Oobleck said in embarrassment. "Thank you, Adenine."**

"Bartholomew, I can allow you to have some personal time off." Ozpin offered the doctor.

"Thank you Ozpin, but that isn't necessary. I always make sure I have the most efficient schedule for class and my personal time." Oobleck replied.

"At least your not married to your work, but I do suggest that you find a partner. I'm sure not even you want to end up alone."

"Funny, headmaster. As I recall you have yet to find a partner yourself."

"I'm not looking for one." Ozpin had married more than once throughout his lifetimes. His first marriage was a failed one for various reasons and that one failed marriage also affect his other marriages. Not that anyone in Remnant knew of that secret or most of his other secrets unless he allows people to know.

Ozpin acknowledges that he is a miserable little pile of secrets. But those secrets stay with him unless he says otherwise.

"And neither am I." Oobleck used Ozpin's answer.

" **Professor." Weiss called out loudly earning Oobleck's attention.**

" **Yes miss Schnee." Oobleck replied, taking a sip of his coffee.**

" **What is miss Adenine talking about?" the Schnee heiress asked.**

" **Oh yes." Oobleck said quickly. "There will be an exam next week on what we have learned during this semester." That revelation caused several groans from the classroom.**

" **Oh great." Yang complained, slumping in her seat.**

 **Ruby too looked like she saw someone kicked a puppy. Only Weiss was looking forward to that.**

 **Blake just had confidence in her studying.**

Ruby, Jaune, and Nora hated studying.

Nora recovered quickly from the knowledge of an upcoming exam. "Wait! This means we get a sneak peek of the exam. Everyone, remember what to answer to what." Nora supported the idea of unofficially or officially cheating on an exam.

"Nora, the exam is next week and there is no guarantee that we will even see." Ren replied.

"If the exam is shown then I'd have to change some questions." Oobleck was rewarded with another set a groans from the same students.

"Give me a break. Studying isn't that hard." Weiss can't stand the exam haters.

"But it's not entertaining." Nora whined

"It feels like time slowed down several times when we study. Then we find out that only three minutes passed." Ruby complained.

"I'm sorry to say this, but learning never stops. It doesn't matter whether your in school or not. Even some Huntsmen mission will required to some research before or during the job." Ozpin spoke the reality of life.

"School doesn't really leave when you leave school."Jaune now has to live with that knowledge alongside everyone else in the room.

" **Are there any questions?" Oobleck asked the class, earning one random student raising their hand. "Yes?"**

 **The student, a girl had a conspirational grin. "When is your wedding?" Causing the class to erupt in laughter. For some reason, the jokes about Oobleck and Adenine being in a relationship or married haven't gotten old yet.**

" **Funny." Oobleck stated, surprisingly calmly. "But you do remember that I might make some last minute changes to the questions, don't you miss Makonis?"**

 **The threat ceased all laughter in the room. Oobleck isn't that petty, but the students don't know that, nor do they want to risk it.**

" **Sorry professor." the student named Makonis said.**

Ozpin and Oobleck drank to that. The classic silencing method.

" **It's quite alright. And it's doctor Oobleck." Oobleck said while correcting the student. "I didn't earn the PhD for fun, thank you very much."**

Such a minor detail.

 **Blake shook her head at this… The couple jokes about Oobleck and Adenine weren't the only ones floating around. Evidenced by how Yang mentioned about joking that Ruby would only marry a guy that can turn into a weapon. Sadly with Roze, that joke might turn into reality one day. With Weiss and Dahlia… a lot of guys and some girls have asked if they can have a night with Dahlia. It took every ounce of self-control from Weiss not to snap at the poor fools and that's not counting Dahlia herself refusing to "spend the night" with anyone… Though sometimes she had to emphasize her words with a bitball in the face.**

Ruby was glad that Yang was still letting loose in the other room. Weiss wished she did somethings to those perverts, but let matter drop since Dahlia had the punishment covered. Blake can only imagine what could be said about her and Nox. She also had to take into account what Nox would do.

 **Anyway… Blake's fantasies were crumbling away with every new quirk she learned about Nox. Although… it seems more like he just needs to be educated on the concepts of privacy and decency. " _I guess ignorance can be cured with education."_ Blake couldn't help thinking, but she did briefly wonder why Nox seemed to become more miserable by the second. Still, one thing was for certain, Nox would never be Adam as long as she had a say in it.**

If Blake had the ability to prevent another Adam from rising up then she gladly take it. One Adam is more than enough.

Continuous knocking can be heard at the door.

"Are you done?" Luck said loud enough for Yang to hear him. He was ready to unlock the door.

"Yes." Yang answered and then the door opened for her. She took a seat where her team was at. "Just… continue where you are."

To be honest, that was probably for the best right now.

* * *

 **Around this time, in a far away village that housed a Schnee company mining site. A figure stood upon a small hill overlooking it.**

 **This figure looked to be partially mechanical with several blue markings across his body. On his feet he wore steel toed boots that seemed a little too thick at the toes than necessary. Two thick ropes are tied around each of his thighs. On his back are two war banners with glowing blue markings. On his head is a red helmet with two winglike extensions on the side. The helmet itself had a large blue crystal on it. Out the back of the helmet, flames were coming out. His eyes, which were shadowed by the helmet, are yellow optics on a tan face. His lower jaw is made of metal. Finally, on his chest is a Core Crystal in the shape of a four pointed star in an X position.**

"This Blade kinda looks like a samurai." Jaune commented on the Blade appearance.

"A ninja and a samurai. Almost seems appropriate. The question now is, who is the Driver?" Ozpin said taking another sip of his coffee.

" **It's time, Perceval." said a person who appeared behind him.**

Blake recognized that voice. Only two words were in her thoughts. ' _Aw shit._ 'Now she knew who this Blade is bound to.

 **The Blade, now named Perceval, turned around to see a group of White Fang members, armed to the teeth. Including Perceval's Driver, Adam Taurus, a high ranking member of the White Fang. An organization with a goal to save the Faunus by eradicating the evil that is humanity… Or that's what Perceval was told. However, with the dust robberies and slaughtering anyone without a care in the world, the Blade found his Driver's claims questionable. "Our target is the Dust mine around these parts, there is no need to kill the villagers." Perceval stated, hoping to change Adam's mind one more time.**

" **Those bastards serve the Schnees." The bull faunus snarled at his Blade. "They deserve nothing less than total extinction."**

" **...Even the children?" Perceval asked seeing from his vantage point that the village had a few children playing around.**

" **Especially them." Adam said with a wicked grin**

Everyone is now a witness to a White Fang operation may included the viewing of a potential massacre.

"Is this guy a reason why you left the White Fang." Weiss asked Blake. They manage to fix their relationship at the docks in Vale a few days after the revelation of Blake formerly being a member of the White Fang. Weiss was glad Blake left when she did otherwise she may have been a part of an operation similar to what is being planned in the story.

"Yes, he is the second major reason why I left." Blake confirm.

Ozpin, Oobleck, and Penny glad glad to see someone make the right choice by leaving a dangerous group which could have made things worse not only for themselves but for all the people in Remnant. They now got a name and an appearance. Ozpin and Oobleck can use whatever they learn here to make plans so that Huntsmen, Huntresses, or kingdom authorities can deal with the situation if it would eventual become part of their reality… whenever they get the chance to return to Remnant's surface.

 **Perceval was about to respond, but an explosion in the village interrupted him.**

What?!

" **It's begun, come on everyone." Adam said as he and his group charged the village that was descending into chaos. With Perceval reluctantly follow.**

"Barely a minute in with this guy and there is already chaos." Yang commented.

 **Few hours later, the village had fallen at the hands of Adam and his fanatic followers. The best part is, there were no Grimm in the area right now, so they allowed themselves to celebrate their victory. Only two people didn't celebrate though. Perceval and a young faunus boy with deer horns. The poor boy joined White Fang to fight against the oppression, but these villagers were practically defenseless against them. But some of the senior members killed villagers while laughing.**

"How can people commit such a horrendous act?" Pyrrha asked.

"Its because of a single ability that everyone in Remnant has, choice. Making choices can lead to some rather scary things. Choice making can also be affected by short term gain, long term gain, belief and more." Ozpin answered. "It's very unfortunate to she choices being made to lead down the path of destruction."

With Weiss this scene does prove something to her and she would keep that knowledge to herself. As an organization, the White fang are evil. Any faunus that was not apart of the White Fang then she would not label them as killers, thieves, or criminals unless there is decisive evidence against the offender. At best, she would be indifferent to most faunus.

 **Anyway, Perceval and this faunus were now scouting the woods to see if there were any stragglers that managed to get out… Or… that's what the young Fang member thought. The truth is, Adam had ordered Perceval to execute the poor lad before he becomes a traitor. From what the Blade understood, Adam was betrayed by his closest friend who turned against her own race. Which is why the Driver of the White Fang decided to execute anyone who so much as thought differently from him to prevent any more defections.**

"That bastard! He willing to go to those extremes just because Blake left." Yang's red eyes burned with fiery rage.

Blake would be lying if she said she didn't suspect that Adam would do something like this after she left. She still believed that she made the right choice to leave the Fang, but now she would know what the effects of leaving had.

There was one thing that everyone hoped for, the child lives to tell the tale of the tragedy.

" **Tell me again, why did you join the White Fang?" Perceval asked the young faunus look.**

 **The faunus in question turned to Perceval with a hesitant look. "Why do you want to know?"**

" **Because everyone here has a reason to hate humanity, but you don't seem to possess the same amount of hate, why is that?" Perceval responded, before taking a sip from his gourd while carrying a large bag around his shoulder.**

 **The faunus sighed before replying. "… It's just… when Adam said we would kill the villagers who support the Schnees… I assumed that they were evil psychopaths that were trained to kill us. I… I didn't think… that they were just..." The youth was unable to continue before he started sobbing. "S-some of them were even faunus." the boy sobbed before falling to his knees. Forcing them to stop walking.**

Unfortunately, the boy has to live with this experience.

 **Perceval looked at the boy with just a hint of pity. It's a shame, but the lad's fate was sealed the moment he questioned Adam about how they were any different from the Schnees. "...Do you have anywhere to go, if you were to leave now?" Perceval asked the boy who looked at the Blade with a tear stained face.**

"… **My grandparents are still alive in Menagerie… If I could… I would go back to them." The boy said with sadness.**

" **Good." Perceval said as he put the bag down gently and summoned his Blade weapon. A Chroma Katana with a purple blade. Then he dashed at his target that still had a family to remember him.**

"He asked those question and still carried out his orders? That monster." Weiss said, but at the same time she felt that Perceval more human than Nox.

To Blake, she may have found another version of Adam and put fear and dread in her heart.

 **Back in the village a few minutes later. Perceval entered the mayor's office that Adam had taken for himself. Apparently the bull faunus was preparing for the next part of their plan. "Oh, Perceval. Did you finish the job?" Adam asked at the sight of his Blade.**

 **Instead of answering, Perceval threw something to Adam, who promptly caught it. It was a single deer horn, cut from the target's head.**

" **Good work." Adam said with a smile.**

" **...The boy had a family that is still alive, what should we tell them. Or our troops." Perceval asked his Driver, who gave him a frown.**

" **Just tell them he was killed by the Grimm." Adam said dismissively. "Now leave, we have a Schnee mine to destroy soon.**

 **Perceval sighed at the lack of care Adam had for a subordinate that the Blade was ordered to kill, before leaving. As Perceval exited the building, he gave one last look at the woods where he did what he had to. " _I hope the boy can make it home."_ Perceval thought, hoping that the boy's grandparents won't be too upset about him losing a horn. Or the little luggage he had left him with, a change of clothes so he can ditch the White Fang uniform, some supplies, and a little girl Perceval had found hiding in a closet. " _I'm still surprised that the little one was able to stay quiet long enough to get out of here."_ Was the last thought the Blade had before taking a sip from his gourd while trying to find a quiet place where he doesn't have to hear the Fang's joyful recount of this slaughter.**

I can be consider a miracle that two kids survive the massacre, but it was with the help from a Blade who was bonded to the mastermind of the slaughter. One who seems to be questioning Adam's orders for some time.

This proved that Perceval was not just another Adam to Blake. Perceval is certainly a step up, but she can't be completely sure about him yet since he still follows Adam's orders to some degree.

Not just Blake, but everyone wondered when Adam got his Blade. They are under the impression that Perceval may have been awakened at some point in between Ruby's and Weiss' prologue or earlier. Probably as early as Oobleck awakening Adenine since the doctor was the First person to discover Core Crystals as 'Death Dust'.

* * *

 **Back in Beacon, around this time, Blake had gone through her day with her team. Now that classes are over, Ruby asked her team to come to the forge to see something cool. The red caped leader had finally rebuilt Crescent Rose, much to Roze's annoyance. "Why would you need that when you have me?" Roze asked his Driver.**

" **Crescent Rose is my first weapon." Ruby explained, completely oblivious to her Blades feelings of jealousy. "I have so many happy memories of creating her." Ruby said as she cuddled the rebuilt compact form of the sniper scythe.**

Ruby was jumping in joy at the sight of her rebuilt weapon.

While the other viewers didn't necessarily treat weapons the same way Ruby does, they are at least happy for her.

" **Come on, Ruby." Yang said with a grin. "Don't make your boyfriend jealous."**

" **YANG!" Ruby whined with a furious blush while Roze raised an eyebrow.**

Then Ruby mode dropped and she sat back down.

Yang didn't even have to do anything.

 **Weiss rolled her eyes at this exchange, with Dahlia shaking her head.**

 **Blake didn't even comment, instead focusing on Nox. She had thought that the silent treatment of the Blade would be easy punishment, but now… It looks like not only does Nox take his punishment dutifully, but he looked more miserable with every hour of the day since the punishment started. That was making it harder for Blake to keep up the punishment.**

" **Why not let him talk already?" Yang said, not finding the dark Blade's misery funny anymore.**

Now Yang knows what was done to Nox while she was letting loose in a separate room. It was a light punishment, yet she was surprised to she how much this affected the dark Blade. She thought it was an overreaction.

 **That snapped Blake at attention. "...No, if I back out now, he won't take me seriously." Blake said, trying to keep up her resolve.**

" **Well, yeah he was a little out of line, but you don't have to torture him like this." Yang said, finding sympathy for Nox despite what he did a few hours ago.**

" **Yeah, you don't have to be mean." Weiss said, managing to put aside her slightly judgmental attitude towards the assassin like Blade.**

Luckily the extend knowledge of Weiss judgmental attitude was only kept within team RWBY.

" **Like your one to talk." Blake snarked without any real heat, earning an annoyed look from Weiss.**

 **During this, Dahlia had taken one of her braid like ears over her shoulder and stroked it idly. "Nox, are you feeling… alone without your ability to communicate?" The ice Blade asked the dark Blade. "Nod means yes." Dahlia added, just to make it clear that this was a yes or no question.**

 **Nox nodded sadly.**

" **What do you mean?" Ruby asked, looking Nox into his visible eye. "We're all here right now."**

 **Roze frowned. "Yes, but he can't talk to us, which is why he feels left out… Am I right?" The rose reaper asked the fellow male Blade, earning a nod as a response.**

So the punishment may have been a bit more serious because it made Nox feel alienated from the group.

 **Blake looked at everyone who took Nox's side. On one hand, she was furious on the inside because she was doing this for them. But on the other hand, Blake had felt isolated herself when she was still hiding her faunus heritage from her team out of fear. "Nox." Blake finally said, earning her Blades attention. The ninja faunus took out the confiscated scroll and gave it back to Nox. "I'm lifting the ban, but… we're going to have a long talk." Blake said as Nox happily accepted his scroll back.**

" **I understand, my lady. If there is anything I can do to become a Blade you deserve, I will do it." The text said while the Blade himself kneeled before his Driver.**

" **Wow… he's… dedicated." Weiss said not sure what to think of a person who appearently was suffering from what was essentially solitary confinement for them, and yet still willing to serve their mistress… Poor choice of words.**

Weiss acknowledged both things.

" **I wonder if he's into cuffs." Yang teased Blake. The poor cat faunus couldn't help the image that line of thought brought to her.**

"Damn it, Yang." Blake said with blush. She did explore that fetish in a book.

" **What do you mean by that?" Ruby asked, causing Yang to face palm. The blonde had forgotten her sister wasn't ready for this conversation.**

" **I'll tell you when you're older." Yang replied.**

" **Hey! Stop treating me like a little kid." Ruby pouted, while flailing her arms.**

Ruby hated getting that answer.

"Your all still children. Ruby just happens to be the youngest." Oobleck said before taking another sip of his coffee.

 **Blake shook her head in amusement, before a certain thought occurred to her. She might be pushing her Driver priviliges with this, but… the temptation was too great. "Now… There's one thing you can start with to become a better Blade for me." Blake said, already feeling dirty for this.**

" **Anything for you, my lady. " Nox had a hopeful sparkle in his visible eye. This earned a snicker from Yang.**

"Being a Driver doesn't necessarily give you privileges." Luck commented.

 **The hidden faunus took a deep breath. "Show me what is under your mask." Blake said, causing everyone to stare at her in shock. Including Nox.**

" **You mean under this mask?** **" Nox showed on his scroll while pointing at his mask with dread in his eyes.**

" **Yes." Blake said, trying to sound resolute. And succeeding for the most part.**

"This will be the third most eventful situation in this prologue compared to Nox's awakening and... the 'incident'. Penny commented.

" **If I do this… Will you ask me to show my left eye too?" Nox looked hesitant.**

 **Blake took some pity for him, so… "No. Once I see what is under that mask… you don't have to show anything else if you don't want to."**

" **Is that a promise? " Nox looked worried.**

" **Yeah, it's a promise." Blake said with a chuckle.**

" **Very well. " Nox let out what looked like a sigh. With that, the rest of team RWBY huddled up for the big reveal.**

"The moment of truth." Nora commented.

A face reveal will satisfy some curiosity.

 **Dahlia was a little worried about this, Nox doesn't look comfortable about showing his face, so he must think he's ugly.**

 **Roze was a little confused about everyone's interest in this… Although he would be lying if he said he wasn't curious.**

 **As team RWBY had their eyes glued to the mask that Nox was reaching for, various imaginations came to their minds about what he might look like. Some comical, others scary… or just bizarre. " Beneath this mask is." Nox showed his scroll as he grabbed the fabric covering his nose. Then he pulled it down to reveal… another mask.**

Most of the viewers fell out of their seats in defeat just to get a face reveal. The adults found the reaction a bit entertaining.

" **Nox… What is that?" Blake asked with a glare. The rest of the team looking very cheated.**

" **My inner mask. " Nox showed with an amused glint in his eyes.**

"Why?" Blake asked.

" **Pull it down." Blake commanded.**

" **No. "**

 **That text caught Blake off guard. "You promised to show your face." Blake said with an edge in her in her tone.**

" **No. I promised to show what was under this mask. And in exchange you promised I wouldn't have to show anything else if I didn't want to." Nox emphasized the text by pointing at the outer mask he had taken off.**

"He's right." Ozpin, Oobleck, and Penny said together.

The Beacon students looked at the previous text in the story. Nox was right and that added to their disappointment.

 **Weiss opened her mouth to retort… only to close it as she replayed the conversation in her head. "...He's not lying." it seemed painful for the white haired huntress to admit being played.**

 **This exchange earned a laugh from Dahlia. "He tricked you, Blake. That sneaky rat tricked you." Dahlia said between laughs.**

" **I do not consider that the highest of praise." Nox dared showed on his scroll.**

"At least he didn't take pleasure in the trick." Pyrrha said, now finding the situation a bit funny.

" **That's not fair." Ruby said with a pout. She thought she could finally see if her theory about Nox having a miniature missile launcher for a mouth was true.**

"Really, Ruby?"

"Really, miss Rose?"

"Roze and Luck said that Blades come is many different forms. My theory is valid because Nox is a Blade." Ruby defended herself.

"She is not wrong. There is a Blade that can be considered a mech. Maybe a new Blade could have that feature." Luck supported Ruby. What he said limited, if not removed room for arguments.

" **You jerk." Yang said, avoiding string language with Ruby around.**

" **...I hate you so much right now." Blake said, despite smiling at being had. "Fine, you can show your face when you feel like it." The faunus Driver relented. Besides, pursuing this would be very mean of her, since she hid her ears from her team for so long.**

"I guess that does make me sound hypocritical." Blake said. She debated on whether or not to remove her bow now or later.

 **What Blake doesn't know however, is that she could've seen a glimpse of Nox's face had she given one simple command. You see, the inner mask isn't a simple back up, it had an unnoticeable opening which Nox uses while eating or drinking. Meaning… that Blake could have at least seen the inside of her Blade's mouth by telling him to open it. Alas, that possibility doesn't even cross Blake's mind as she motions Nox to put his outer mask back on. Which the Blade did, while internally sighing at the bullet he just dodged.**

Blake can't see why the inside of Nox mouth can satisfy her curiosity, but it is related to his face so she missed a partial reveal.

" **Anyway." Blake then said with an evil look. "I think it's time for you to train a little."**

 **The way Blake said that made Weiss and Yang have less than innocent thoughts as they weren't sure what their black haired smut reader meant.**

"Did that last part really need to be emphasized?" Blake commented.

" **As you wish, my lady. " Nox said while bowing his head. With that, the two left. Leaving Blake's two blushing friends behind, while Ruby looked at the said two in confusion.**

" **...Did Blake say something gross?" Ruby asked. You don't grow up with uncle Qrow without at least knowing when something dirty was said. Evidenced when dad scolded the said druncle, as Yang once called him.**

"It's just a case of something said being taken out of context." Ozpin said to offer some slight hope. He knows how Qrow is.

 **Anyway, Yang and Weiss stared at Ruby, surprised that she was able to pick that up.**

" **...W-we'll tell you when your older." Weiss tried to use the same excuse Yang did.**

"Not you too, Weiss." Ruby whined.

" **...So she did." Sadly Ruby wasn't dumb enough to not read between the lines this time.**

Blake took a deep breath. "Finally done with this pain." She then looked at Yang. "You're next." Blake wanted to relax.

* * *

Klaus was sitting in her room waiting fro the results of the final battle between the Driver of Pneuma and his friends against Logos.

Thought the spatial distortion on his body and connection to the Conduit, he heard something.

" _Today, we use our power to fell a god, and then seize our destiny!"_

"Hurry… the time… is nigh..." He spoke while feeling his connection to the conduit and his life fading.

There was one thing he wanted to do, but he may not have the strength to do it. After a group of visitors came to him, he left his room for a moment to talk to a certain nopon he caught wind off. One who is not natural from either worlds he resides in. One that managed to create his own artificial space that just became linked between the worlds both halves of himself were in.

* * *

 **Miss Makonis… Makonis… Mechonis**


	11. Prologue 4-1

**Alright, let just say that this took me a lot longer than I would have liked. It was initially planed to come out at the end of my short vacation, but I couldn't focus on it. Then it was planned to be finished August 31st and uploaded the next day, didn't happen. Now I had to settle for a 2nd/3rd release. Vacation was one distraction, something Novice brought up was another minor one, but the large distraction was manga which I rarely ever go into. I'm more of an anime only person unless its something that peaks my interest somehow like "My Hero Academia". It was "Ascendance of a Bookworm" and "Divine Doctor".**

 **I'm lucky Astral Chain didn't become a reason. By the way, the game is dope. Play it if you can. It might be part of that one option in the poll for an 'XCX x ?' crossover. That or the Phantasy Star series which I think will be much more difficult. I think at one point I said that it may have been XCX2 based on the first 10 seconds of the reveal trailer.**

 **Speaking of the poll, the current top 5 options include my top three in my personal list in 1st, 3rd, and 4th. Only the first spot in both list is in the same place. No extension will be given. The deadline in the day I can no longer reply with the word 'blackjack' when I'm asked a certain question and that day is coming soon. There are multiple ways on how I can handle the results:**

 **1\. Most voted (if tie then I select)**

 **2\. Least voted (at least one vote, if tie then I select)**

 **3\. Top 3 choice (beware, one of the options in the top 3 can't truly be considered a story by me)**

 **4\. Vote range (if two or more stories have 4 votes then I select one then go to stories with 3 votes and so on, not including options with 0 votes)**

 **5\. Disrespect all voters by going with the 0 options**

 **6\. Unlisted (options that may have popped up at some point after the poll went up. Poll will still be used for reference)**

* * *

The Nopon Archsage was humming happily." Architect is most generous for giving information and resources to connect to another world. He also kind enough to let me know that Alrest will be fusing with Remnant. It saves time and resources."

Now the Archsage has to gain some insight on Remnant himself. This would take his mind of the continuous failures of trying to establish a direct connection to two certain worlds." Archsage will be satisfied with what can already be connected. Four links is plenty… well, it's more like three now. Now, how many and which people should be transported."

* * *

Yang did missed some events that occurred in Blake's prologue. She chose not to look back into what she missed thinking that it might piss her off again. She didn't need any more negative energy, especially when she is going to read about herself.

Would her prologue be similar to Ruby's and Weiss' or would it be similar to Blake's? Her answer in right in her hands.

 **Fiery Wrath Times Two**

"Please let this Blade not be a brute." That was Weiss response to the title of the final prologue.

 **Wrath of the Dragon**

Either that was referring to Yang or her Blade can potentially be a pissed of dragon.

 **Yang was excited, it was finally her turn to get a Blade. Hopefully it's one with cool gauntlets. As with Blake the headmaster had decided to do the next selection in the arena, which was closed off for this event.**

 **Otherwise, the setting was the same. Medics were prepared and Ozpin had brought a selection of the remaining Crystals.**

Having more room was fine in case Yang awaking a hulking being. Hopefully one that can fit though door frames.

" **Break a leg sis." Ruby said happily, having utmost faith in Yang.**

" **Hopefully it's someone less creepy then Nox." Weiss said, while giving the ninja Blade a look, which was promptly ignored.**

"Less of one thing can sometimes mean more of another. For better or worse." From what I'vs seen so far there seems to be some unique matching when awakening Blades in this story. I can almost consider it 'fixed'." Luck said.

While Blake is definitely not creepy, she is the ninja of team RWBY and her Blade is of the same archtype. It's that Nox left an impression that he is creepy. Considering this, Weiss knew that Yang would get a brute. Much to her dismay. To be honest, she rather take a brute of a Blade instead of what Nox represents. That's probably because she has been on a team with Yang just barely long enough to have some tolerance.

" **We have a healer and two attackers. Some kind of tank would be nice." Nox showed on his scroll instead of reacting to Weiss.**

A Blade team setup similar enough to the functions of team RWBY. Healing was the exception, but support roles are still withing both groups.

" **That would be ideal." Dahlia admitted, although she wasn't sure if Yang would be so excited about wielding a shield hammer.**

"Nope. Rather use gauntlets or my fist for combat." Yang said.

"I would." Nora raised her hand. "Your missing out Yang." If the 'shield' part was anything to go by then Nora would have an added layer of defense if she ever awakens a Blade.

 **Anyway, Yang was excited about having a Blade of her own for several reasons. On the top of those being that she could have a new awesome weapon, and possibly a reliable partner. Nothing wrong with Blake, but the feline faunus practically got one of her fantasies in the flesh. So it was only right that Yang would get hers. "Here goes nothing." Yang said as she picked a random Crystal and felt the drain in her aura.**

Looks like Yang's other saved herself from saying isn't a reliable partner. Some of the shade was avoided, but not completely.

It's not something Blake would pursue.

 **Same routine with the others, Yang was starting to feel tired. "...Come oon. Flash already." Yang complained as her muscles were being sapped of their strength.**

 **The process was taking a bit longer than normally. "Roze, what's going on?" Ruby asked her Blade who had a worried look.**

Luck can tell this is a delayed awakening which very rarely ever happens and has no written record, but he decided yo say what the other possibility was. "Rejection."

"Oh, hell no! I'm not going to be the only on singled out." Then Yang realized something. "Wait. If thats the case then my story won't exist."

"She caught that, huh." Luck lowly said to himself.

" **...Weiss, prepare the healing." Roze said evenly.**

" **What?" Everyone started to look very worried.**

" **Do as he says." Dahlia said sternly as she gave her Driver the bitball. Even the medics were preparing for the worst case scenario.**

 **Then the Crystal finally flashed, and Yang felt tired, but she was still a little better off than the rest of her team was.**

"Thanks to physical training and body improvement." Yang said.

"Yet your other still feels drained. Had that been me I would still be in my best condition." Nora boast."

"I don't know how you can keep up with your suicidal training without being hurt." Yang may have thought that Nora's food may have been spiked with something to do her training. Yang had the most success in keeping up with Nora, but she eventually got to the point where she can't keep up and call it quits despite Nora calling her weak which pissed her off a bit. Yang never truly dropped Nora's training regiment, but she hasn't completed it either.

(Play XC2 OST: Awakened DNA)

 **As for the Blade… he was enormous. Easily towering over every person in the room and then some. The thing was very muscular, but the body seemed to be made of some kind of stone with multiple hair cracks here and there. At least, up to the torso which revealed reddish tan skin, from right before his shoulders to right before where his navel would be. The edges of the stone that exposed his skin have cracks that glowed orange. On his back is a statue that looks like a two headed oriental dragon, fused to his back. The heads craned over his shoulders, resting against his chest with their eyes closed. The statue ended in a tail that swished idly, despite being made of stone. Now that they looked at his arms, it looks like only the fore arms are covered in stone. There is a patch of reddish tan skin that was straining to contain the bulging muscles beneath the upper arms, just beneath the stony shoulder. The stony hands had openings at the palms and under the fingers, revealing more reddish tan skin. Now that Yang looked closer, it looks like the skin was… infused with the stone, right under the orange glowing cracks that outline where stone ends and skin begins. His legs seemed to be completely cover in stone, except for the glowing cracks, where the joints would feet were bare and the toes looked like they had claws growing out of them. Finally, his head… there was a slicked back spiky hair that kept switching colors infrequently, from warm red, to a hot orange, and then molten gold. It was like solid fire that was turning into hair. Out of that hair, came three pairs of jagged stone horns, each pair being shorter than the last when counted from the pair that grows right above his forehead. Then there's the patches of his face that have turned to stone. No really, it looks like the closer to the edges of his face you go, patches of his skin are replaced by stone. Where his ears are supposed to be, there are short spiky stones in vague shapes of ears. All of these features that outlined a reddish tan face that seemed to scream, "strength", were topped with his eyes. Golden yellow with a vertical slit for a pupil. But the real sign of his power was the hexagonal Core Crystal on his fore head, surrounded by his glowing rock.**

" **Who invokes the power of Dragunov?" The Blade, now named Dragonov asked with fire in his eyes.**

(OST end)

" **...Hey there, hot stuff." Yang purred in mild delirium, earning blanched looks from her team and the two Beacon teacher's who were over seeing this.**

Yang had to take in a breath after that long winded description about her Blade and her initial in-story reaction. "He looks awesome, but I can't tell if he is hot or stoned by my personal scale."

"Taking that in one particular way, you are not far off from the element. Other than that, I pray for your betterment as a human being or at least a comedian because that was in bad taste." Luck said.

"I'll admit that was bad only because of the 'stoned' part." Yang admitted.

That caught some people by surprise. Yang admitting to a bad joke if only because of a drug reference.

" **MISS XIAO LONG!" Glynda scolded harsher than she probably meant.**

 **The moment earned an amused laugh out of Dahlia, while Yang had the decency to look sheepish at her blunder.**

" **Xiao Long." Dragunov questioned as he heard Glynda clearly. "...Cute." the Blade said sarcastically. "So what do you hope to accomplish with my power?" Dragunov asked fixing a gaze into Yang that made the girl blush ever so slightly with it's intensity.**

""Thanks for the compliment." Yang disregarded the sarcasm. "I want an awesome partner that his not Nora to cause chaos with."

"Really Miss Xiao Long." Oobleck disapproves of the brawlers plans with a Blade regardless if its a joke or not.

"Just kidding professor."

At least Ozpin didn't have to label one more of his students as a problem child. Nora by herself was more than enough for his staff to handle. Ozpin was only taking into account of Nora's normal state. He seen the sugar state, but he is unaware of the coffee state.

" **...I just wanted an awesome new power." the blonde said without thinking.**

 **Judging by the look on Dragunov's face… that was the wrong thing to say. "Really… you want to awaken MY great power just to look 'awesome'." The Blade said with a highly offended look. "I demand a new Driver!"**

Tang felt offended from the Blade's demand. "How can you not want me? I the most badass person to have as a partner."

It's because you ran you mouth without thinking." Weiss said.

"You gave an answer that can be less than ineffective." Penny added.

"There is a reason why mankind's greatest power is the ability to think. It gets us out of situations most of the time and turn situations into our favor." Oobleck lectured the young brawler.

Yang didn't want to be lectured.

* * *

 **Meanwhile, in the world of Alrest. A beautiful woman in a blue dress was sitting in the canteen of a Nopon trade ship known as Argentum. This woman was Brighid, hailed as one of the most powerful fire Blades in Alrest. She was reading a book with a keen eye. This book was her dairy, in which she had recorded many of her past lives. Even those of 500 years ago. Speaking of which, she was eyeing one entry about a certain Blade that fought alongside her at that time.**

The mention of Alrest certainly got everyone engaged in what will happen in the story on the other side.

The blue woman was certain beautiful has a slightly more human appearance compared to Roze if not just as human. The male students were… interested in the Blade because of her dress, but Ren does handle the sight better but not in the same way as the professors. Just like with Dahlia, Weiss and Yang do feel self-concious when comparing the Blade's 'assests' to their own. With Yang it was to a lesser extent.

The first location they see is also interesting, at least to Oobleck and Penny. A canteen within a trade ship run by whoever or whatever these Nopon are. It may be possible to see these Nopon. Since this is a part of a trade ship they were seeing, they my be able to observe economic practices in Alrest.

500 years worth of memories for all past lives written in a diary did stand out to Ozpin. While he did have several lives worth of memory across at least 3 generations, he does fall short of that 500 year mark. He also keeps a physical journals about his previous lives. While those journals are spread out across Remnant and secure it was also possible for him to reach them if he ever needed to with a new life.

" **Hey, Brighid." called a red headed young woman, Pyra. The legendary Blade known as the Aegis, evidenced by her core crystal that was green instead of blue like all the other Blades. "Is that your diary you're reading." The red headed Blade had seen the diary once, but never read it. At least not without Brighid's permission.**

This surprised everyone, some more so than others. If Yang and Nora both had either a cup or even a jug of water then they would have poured it on themselves to make sure they weren't seeing double between the screen and someone else. For a certain person it raised some questions about herself and possibly her origin.

"Pyrrha, are you secretly a Blade?" Nora asked her teammate.

"Did you have a sister born in another dimension?" Yang asked the champion.

"Umm..." Pyrrha couldn't give an aswer due to her confusion on why this Blade, Pyra, looks very similar to her along with having a similar name to her.

"The resemblance is uncanny." The teacher's and Penny said, getting nods of agreement from Blake, Weiss, and Ren.

"The differences would be the their names, race, eye color, height, and hair length." Ren compared the Blade to his teammate.

"Don't forget that she is packing more heat in the A'nT department." Yang said. Her own statement did made her feel a bit jealous. Pyrrha was the only girl at Beacon with assets comparable and debatably greater to her own, but now these Blades are changing that. First Dahlia, and now these Blades known as Brighid and Pyra, mostly the latter instead of the former.

"A'nT?" Pyrrha was confused since she has never heard that acronym. Most people of the group didn't except for maybe Nora, but who could be sure. She wasn't until Yang got up and whispered it in her ear causing her to blush from that kind of comparison. She slowly looked down at her own body be quickly refocusing her attention back to the screen.

Oobleck decided to bring a certain term to attention. "'Aegis'. So she is a Blade. If I recall correctly, it was said that a Blade of the Light attribute or an Aegis can let us out. Does she specifically fills some criteria to have such a title? Is there more than one Aegis?" The doctor inquire the guide.

"There is more than one Aegis." Luck answered the second question first. That answer is only true for now and may change later. "Aegis are the most powerful Blades in Alrest, although its still possible to best them. Their Core Crystal are also different from normal Crystals in the inactive state and color. Unlike the normal prism-like Core Crystals, an Aegis has a cross-like Core Crystal. The color change isn't just a different shade of blue. As you can see, hers is green. There is another purpose they serve, but I won't go into an in-depth explanation. Just recall something Klaus said and make an educated guess on what that purpose is."

"Interesting indeed." Oobleck and Penny proceed with different forms of note taking and their own speculations about the Aegis.

Just before Yang continued, Nora got up and whispered something in her ear. "When ever we leave this place lets see if we can get Pyrrha to cosplay as this Pyra."

Yand gave a thumbs up." We're not cutting hair though. Just make seem shorter." She replied at a whisper level.

" **Yes it is, Pyra." Brighid said while staring staring at the page she was on in the book. "...Could you… call out Mythra out?**

Perhaps this Mythra is a Blade or just another person.

 **Pyra was surprised by that request, but instead of answering, Pyra glowed for a moment, before being replaced by a blonde woman. This is Mythra, the original Aegis. "What is it?" Mythra asked, wanting to get this thing over with as fast as possible.**

"Original? It looks like she ascended to a greater form. How is Pyra not the original?" Nora asked her questions.

"I don't know but it's awesome. I highly support the blonde. I don't even need any info about her to support her." Yang said.

Following the line of supporting a Blade with little to no information, Nora gave her answer. I'll take the red one."

Yes the support was purely based on hair color. No else really wanted to join in so Yang pressured her sister to chose… until she got karate chopped on the head by Luck and she glared at him.

Ruby felt a bit relieved since Luck got her out of a forceful situation. If she had to choose, then she would have picked Pyra simply because that form of the Aegis has a lot of her favorite color.

As for Ozpin, he was intrigued by the persona swap. He nor anyone else from Remants knows how different this Mythra could be, but they couldn't compare her to Pyra just yet either. They both have just been introduced this chapter. The ability did get him thinking, what if he was able to switch his persona freely? In a way he could, but only through his curse known as reincarnation. What if in his current he was able to switch to a previous iteration of himself? He could possibly have more magic that what he currently has. While it can prove useful in his own war, he is not sure if it would tip the scales in his favor.

 **Brighid seemed hesitant. "There is a… confusing entry in my diary." The fire Blade finally said, earning a questioning look from Mythra.**

" **Confusing how?" The blonde Aegis asked as she glanced at the diary that seemed to come with a hand drawn picture of something that made her feel… annoyed for some reason.**

Annoyed?

" **...It's just… well… see for yourself." Brighid said awkwardly as she showed the entry to Mythra.**

 **With a confused look Mythra started reading in a quiet voice. "I can't stand that muscle headed idiot! We know he is powerful, we know what he and his Driver have done together. Why must he be such a… such a… buffoon!?" Mythra gave a questioning look at Brighid who was blushing a storm.**

" **Can you please no read aloud, it's embarrassing enough for me to essentially have ranted in my diary." Brighid said in embarressment.**

"How can you not expect that to happen?" Weiss said.

"I wanna know if the entry is just a rant or something more. Maybe... a guy she liked?" Yang said. While she initially was going to say it in a playful manner she remember what exactly happens to a Blade and also doubted that diary would contain more than a few years of memory unless there is more than one. That is why she said 'liked'.

 **Thankfully, Mythra had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry. So… what was the problem here. It just sounds like you had to deal with an idiotic Blade." The blinde Blade then asked.**

 **Brighid reached for her diary and turned several pages. "Start reading from the second page and please keep it in your head this time." The fire Blade asked.**

" **Alright then." Mythra said with an eye roll. To summerize, Brighid barely lost a sparring match against this Blade called Dragunov. Someone who saw the fight was retelling the battle with some… comments about Brighid that ranged from sexist to down right misogynistic. But the interesting part was, that when Brighid went to give the perpetrator a "piece of her mind", Dragunov had beaten her to it. Apparently by disrespecting Brighid, they were disrespecting the effort Dragunov had put into defeating her. From there… call Mythra crazy, but it sounds like Brighid had a bit of a… love-hate relationship with the Blade. "So… what am I looking for?" Mythra asked not understanding the point. After all, she doesn't remember everything that happened 500 years ago. Though the name "Dragunov" does feel like she should feel… disgusted? No, that's not the word… annoyed? No, that's not right either… confused annoyance with just a hint of respect? Close enough.**

"The stupidity of some people." Luck whispered to himself after hearing that comment sbout Brighid. It could have been worse.

As for the rest of the passage, it gave minor insight on how Dragunov once was and how he could possibly be. To Yang that may have meant meant that Dragunov could be an asshole, which would be her translation of idiotic based on the Blade's awakening. At least he can pay respect where it's due.

 **The jewel of Mor Ardain let out a sigh. "I can't picture his personality at all." Brighid complained. "No matter how many times I read my entries about him, I just… can't seem to fully grasp what I though of him at the time."**

 **Mythra had an evil smile at that. "Oh.. I think I remember now. You were always fawning over him, wishing he would just whisk you away. You were always so… h-hot for him." It was petty and childish sure, but Mythra could not resist this. Even if she failed to keep up the act until the end.**

Weiss didn't expect the strongest and potentially oldest Blade to a childish jest. She figured the Aegis would be above that.

Yang approved of Mythra's attempt to tease Brighid with a pun.

" **That doesn't sound like me." Brighid said in suspicion. "Besides, are we still talking about me, or is that how you feel towards Rex."**

" **WHAT!?" Mythra's screech drew the attention of the other patrons in the canteen for a moment." D-don't be stupid! How could I feel like that about that idiot." The blonde Blade said frantically, blushing a storm as she did.**

"Oh, the reversal. The truth comes into the light." Yang said.

Other than that outburst, the viewers got a look at the patrons. A majority of them were these small furry creatures. Depending on who you asked, the creatures would either be called oversized colored eggs or sentient potatoes.

"So these little ones are Nopon." Oobleck said while adjusting his glasses.

"They are kinda cute." Ruby said.

Nora did agree with Ruby. "Can I get one as a pillow?"

"I'm pretty sure treating them as a living pillow would just piss them off. While they may be a mostly peaceful and harmless species, but there are a few tough Nopon out there and not all of them are fighters." Luck shut down Nora's idea. He did think it would be funny to see someone being put in their place by a Nopon.

" **Feel like what about what idiot?" asked a very evil voice.**

 **Mythra and Brighid turned towards the voice to see a very evil looking Gormotti named Nia. Worse yet, the rest of the gang was with her now. Tora, the Nopon inventor who had the genius to make his artificial Blade, Poppi. Mórag, the special inquisitor of Mor Ardain and Brighid's Driver. Nia's Blade, Dromarch, a white tiger wearing an armor. Finally, Rex, a young salvager, and Pyra's and Mythra's Driver.**

"A faun- no, Gormotti." Blake corrected herself since the story explicitly said "Gormotti". She can still consider the person a faunus.

"Yes. Your kind, or at least specifically you can pass as a Gormotti." Luck said.

"Her voice doesn't match up with her appearance, but it works strangely well." Penny said. She then brought up something a bit more interesting, specifically for her. "Why make an artificial Blade? Did Tora try to awaken a Blade?"

"The entire Nopon species are unable to awaken a Blade. Tora was part of a small group to create the first artificial Blade in Alrest." Luck said, leaving out some important details.

"He must be an impressive man." When Penny looked at the artificial Blade, Poppi, she was unsure about showing much of her manufactured.

Tora may be the size of the average mature Nopon, but is abnormally large for his young age.

As for Mórag, the Remnans could gather from her attire ans posture that is a high individual and could be part of militaristic group, at least as a leader.

 **Mythra stared at the gang with her mouth agape. And then she was replaced by Pyra in a burst of flaming light. "Mythra! That's not fair." shouted a very distressed Pyra at basically being thrown under an armu stampede.**

Its assumed that armu was the equivalent of cows or bulls.

" **Sooo. What was Mythra talking about?" Nia asked with a smirk, enjoying this a lot more than was probably appropriate.**

" **My lady, I think we should-" "Shut up, Dromarch." Nia interrupted her Blade, causing the poor tiger to look down in a chastised manner.**

"Cool, a talking tiger." Nora and Ruby said in unison.

"My lady." While she dobted it, Blake was still a bit wary if the white tiger could be similar to Nox. Those two should the only similarity between them in how they address their respective Drivers.

" **Was Mythra talking about her feelings for Rex-Rex?" Tora asked sounding impressed.**

" **Oh. Is Mythra in love with Rex, Masterpon?" asked the mechanical child that was Poppi.**

"Masterpon?"

"the 'pon' part if part of the Nopon manner of speaking when addressing someone in whatever relationship they have. Since Tora created Poppi, she will refer to him as her master, or rather masterpon. It is apart of her programming too." Luck explained.

" **No! I-It's not like that." Pyra stammered, blushing a storm herself.**

" **Pyra, what's going on?" Rex asked in worry, and just a little bit of a blush himself.**

 **As Pyra was trying to articulate an explanation, Mórag had moved to her Blade. "Brighid, what did you do?" The woman wasn't even concerned, just curious.**

" **I tried to ask Mythra about Dragunov." Brighid said honestly, but with a slightly smug smile. "She dared to say I was… head over heels for him." The blue haired lady shuddered at the last part. Brighid was unable to see herself being like that for anyone. Least of all to someone who sounded like a strength obsessed brute. One with a few good points, but a brute nonetheless.**

"It's still possible." Yang commented.

 **This earned a raised eyebrow from Mórag. "The Blade that killed Drivers he deemed unworthy of power? The one that according to your diary was known as, the Fire Storm of Torna?**

"K-kill?" Ruby was now worried for her sister. Hearing it directly solidified the feeling more then when Dragunov demanded a new Driver.

"Hell no." Yang clenched her fist she felt that she was ready to take this Blade head on regardless of the Blade's potential abilities. She even has her team with their Blades, the headmaster, and the professors who know of the existence of Blades.

"This may not end well." The professor said.

" **The very same." Brighid said, remembering the entries about the Blade being only awakened by experienced Drivers because of this. "If I understand correctly, it seemed that he almost killed his Driver, Thauron, that awakened him 500 years ago. He probably would have been killed if Dragunov didn't suddenly accept him." Or at least, that's what Brighid's diary says.**

"Don't know what the other guy did, but it doesn't matter now. I wanna see my other kick some ass." Yang commented.

" **Does your diary say why Dragunov accepted him?" Mórag asked. Even as she was ignoring the background noise that she has come to call her comrades teasing each other. If Dragunov truly saw his Driver as unworthy, then what changed his mind.**

" **Unfortunately, no." Brighid said with a sigh. "I wish I could meet him, if only to understand what I really thought of him in the past." the Blade said with a sigh.**

Why can it not be easy to get an answer?

 **Mórag gave her Blade a sympathetic look. According to the diary, Thauron died in the final days of the Aegis War and Dragunov's Core Crystal was lost. That was another reason why Mórag was worried about the Aegis' power. Dragunov was said to possess the power to reduce a city into ashes at his peak, but that was still nothing compared to the power of the Aegis that destroyed three nations.**

"Oh dear, quite a frightening thought." Oobleck did not know how large the nations in Alrest were or have large the cities were. He assumed that only major city locations were comparable to the kingdoms, but he can't exactly scale Alrest's land masses to Remnant's continents. Dragunov could cause an alternate Mount Glenn incident. The Aegis could supposedly cause an international disaster though the doctor doesn't know how that even came to be.

Now was the time to come up with restrictions and countermeasure in case something similar could happen in Remnant with the inclusion of Blades.

Meanwhile Luck was in a thoughtful pose. 'Did I even gave an explanation of Titan? I know for sure that the doctor is thinking about the landmasses in both worlds because of the destruction references just mentioned. If I didn't then they will see the titans eventually.'

* * *

 **Back in Remnant, Dragunov had raised his enormous fist to strike at Yang.**

"I'll handle this right now. I don't even need to go through part two." Yang cracked her knuckles by simply clenching her fist.

"For the sake of making this a somewhat proper viewing, please don't chapter." Luck said.

" **Healing Circle!" and Yang felt her aura being restored, right before taking a hit. She was still sent against the arena wall with a loud crash, but at least her aura managed to take the brunt of it.**

 **To the Blade's disappointment, he was still here, which meant the girly was still alive. "Tch! Annoying pest." Dragunov said, stomping towards Yang to finish her, only to feel something stopping him. "Wh- What is this!?" The Blade felt like some invisible force was holding his body.**

A quick 'thank you was given to professor Goodwitch.

"That all you got? I thought you were strong enough to destroy a city." Yang taunted her Blade that couldn't hear her.

"I'm pretty sure that would have been a one hit K.O if you didn't get healed." Nora told Yang. "You'd still be alive."

"If you didn't at least have aura, you would be dead." Weiss let that simple fact be known.

" **Blade or not, I won't let you harm my students." Glynda declared with a heated glare, as Ozpin dashed past her and struck Dragunov upside the head with his cane in attempt to knock him out.**

" **...Was that supposed to hurt?" The partially stony Blade asked in annoyance, much to Ozpin's shock. Anyone else would at least be reeling, aura or not.**

"No it wasn't, but that should have at least been the minimal result." Ozpin said. It's not that he was weak, but because the Blade is physically resilient and strong.

(Play XC2 OST: Monster Surprised You)

 **Then, to everyone's further shock,** **Dragunov began to resist Glynda's telekinetic hold on him. Even as the professor in question did everything in her power to stop the rampaging Blade, it looked like he would break free eventually with brute strength alone.**

Though would be quite problematic. If the Blade did somehow gets neutralized and Glynda gets put out of commission, then Ozpin might actually have to pay for repairs and potentially lose his position as headmaster for an even he allowed.

" **TAKE THIS YOU ASSHOLE!" That shout was followed by a semblance enhanced Yang who returned Dragunov's punch with some interest to his face. Now it was the stony Blade who was flung across the floor. Yang pumped her fist in victory. "One punch! That's how it's done."**

Yang smirked. "Hell yes! Training is paying off." Her training regiment it an altered version of something she saw. 100 push ups, 100 sit ups, and an 8k run five times a week. She is not changing what she eats.

" **What is done and how?" Dragunov asked as he got back up, looking more pissed than anything else. "I admit, you hit harder than I thought. But if you think I go down that easily then you're dumber that you look." The Blade said with a savage grin.**

"Bullshit." Yang refused to believe that her training was ineffective. The only reason why she didn't take the original training regiment over her altered on was because she didn't want to lose her hair.

 **During this, Ruby and Blake had drawn their Blade weapons, and Ozpin had told the medics to escape and alert any of Beacon's combat capable staff to help.**

" **Now." Dragunov said as he grabbed a piece of masonry off the floor by digging his fingers into it. "Feel my power!" And then he threw that piece of floor towards Yang who moved to the side to avoid."**

"Pfft, your power is throwing a rock? Lame." Nora mocked the Blade.

" **Team RWBY! Charge!" Ruby's shout was followed by the little red reaper lifting Roze's scythe to strike as she dashed.**

" **Out of my way, shrimp." Dragunov said as he prepared to back hand Ruby when she got close enough. Except, Ruby switched to shooting him just of his range. "Ohh, sneaky one aren't you." Dragunov mock complimented, before he felt something on his back. Blake had snuck behind Dragunov and gave him a taste of Nox's Dual Scythes. "You little…!" Dragunov grabbed Blake's head, only it was a clone created by her semblance he caught. Evidenced, by how it vanished.**

" **You're mine." Weiss declared as she used her semblance in conjunction with her rapier. Dahlia even used her icecraft to help. Dragunov barely had enough time to turn towards the shout before he was trapped in a huge ice block.**

" **Nice one, ice queen." Yang cheered with a fist pump. This time she was sure they had defeated the Blade.**

(OST end)

Weiss ignored being called ice queen.

"It's a win for team RWBY." Ruby cheered.

"I'm fine with this result." Yang said even though she wished she could handle this a bit more personally.

" **Judging by his appearance, I'd say he's an earth Blade." Dahlia said with a smile. "You don't break out of that with strength alone." Weiss and Dahlia had discovered that using the ice Blade's icecrafting in conjunction with Weiss' dust usage can create very sturdy ice. Even Nora had a problem breaking it with her hammer and semblance.**

Weiss smiled at that discovery while Nora complained that her other didn't try everything to break that ice.

"With a title including "Fire Storm" and a bit of information on his past life, I'm more inclined to believe that he is a fire Blade." Penny said.

"Why not have both elements?" Jaune asked.

"While there are a couple of Blades that can be fitted with multiple elements, there are no Blades that can have two elements at the same time." Luck answered.

" **Don't let your guard down students." Ozpin shouted, causing the students to stare at the now steaming prison. Before the said prison exploded, revealing a thoroughly pissed off Dragunov. However, something was different, the hair cracks around his stony body were glowing orange. Even his golden eyes were glowing with fury.**

"Ah shit, here we go again." Yang said. Round two and she knew that the difficulty just increased.

(Play XC2 OST: Incoming!)

" **How.. dare you." Dragunov growled at the ice Blade and Driver. "I guess I shouldn't play around after all." The male Blade said as he lifted both arms. And in a flask of light he had a pair of metallic gauntlets in his arms. Interestingly enough, three spikes with glowing blue tips extend from the wrists over the back of his hands, while a fourth one came over the side of his fist. The spikes were shaped like… dragon claws that were grasping his stony fist. "When I'm done with all of you, your charred broken bones will litter the floor. Dragunov declared as he gave a few test punches.**

As cool as the weapons looked, Ruby can't gush over them since there is a looming death threat.

"Alright, he need to chill out a bit more. How are you gonna get mad over being put in a block of ice that you broke out of easily?" Yang asked.

"He made seem like a minor inconvenience." Blake added.

 **To his worry, Ozpin saw that there was a pattern with the glowing hair cracks. The orange glowing cracks made the stone look like scales. Like on a dragon.**

" **His element..." Roze said as he voiced their miscalculation." It's not earth, it's fire!"**

 **As if to prove Roze's point, Dragunov grinned with flames leaking through his teeth. "Now, you will burn." Was the last warning from the dragonic Blade before charging at team RWBY.**

" **Scatter!" Ruby shouted as the team started running around the arena with Dragunov not being able to decide who to target first.**

 **In the end, the decision was made when the raging fire Blade felt the debris being flung at him with Glynda's semblance. "Why you little bitch." Dragunov growled as he charged at Goodwitch.**

 **Only to be tripped up Ozpin's cane, followed by Weiss using a glyph to launch the bit ball on the downed Blade.**

"Please try not to lose your own life while protecting the students." Ozpin commented.

" **You will pay for -GRAUGH!" Dragunov's swear of vengeance and attempt to get up was interrupted by Blake slicing at the backs of his leg joints. Which was sson finished with a shot to the head from Ruby. Unfortunately, any wounds they inflicted on Dragunov only healed in moments.**

What?

" **Why are his wounds healing?" Weiss shouted, never having heard someone without an aura regenerating.**

 **Dahlia bit her lip. "It's because he's a Blade. No matter how or where we strike him, his wounds will keep healing."**

"Regeneration without aura? Isn't that kinda broken?" Jaune asked.

"Maybe from your world's perspective, yes." Luck said.

"Damn… but that means we can keep on breaking his legs." Nora had a savage grin. "Cripple him again Blake."

Blake guessed that it could be done again, but there is hardly any payoff because of Blade regeneration.

" **It's the same for the three of us." Roze added in as he used thorny Bloom, to increase Ruby's attack speed. With Ruby giving a few quick strikes on the dragonic Blade before getting away from his fist.**

Increased attack speed told Ruby that hit and run tactics may now be a better option for her, but she is still views herself as a front line combatant similar to her sister.

" **So you're saying… we can't beat him?" Yang asked in disbelief and crushing guilt. She felt like it was her fault that this monstrosity was trying to kill everyone.**

That would weigh heavily on her. Yang could potentially have killed the present professors, herself, her team… maybe even her dad and uncle if they receive news that she and Ruby somehow got killed at school before the existence of Blades became known to all of Remnant.

 **However, Ozpin felt much more guilty. He considered this situation with Nox, but now it seems like it was all for naught, since Blades can't be killed. " _It looks like I keep making mistakes no matter what."_**

Ozpin still believes that a Blade can be stopped, just not killed. However, it seems like more mistakes will be made before he finds out how. Nothing has changed since his second life.

" **Damn it." Glynda said as she fired more debris at the rampaging Blade. "Why are you even trying to kill your own Driver!?"**

" **Why?" Dragunov asked as if Glynda said the dumbest thing in the world." Because she isn't not worthy of my power." The dragonic Blade said as one of his knuckle claw's talons lit on fire.**

 **Roze's white eyes widened at the sight of the action. "That's a-" Blazing Talon!" Dragunov roared as he launched himself at the combat professor with his flaming weapon.**

"A simple fiery dash punch? Gotta be a level 1 special." Nora commented.

 **Glynda replied by using the dust within her cape to create a barrier. Sadly, it couldn't withstand the flaming punch which exploded upon impact, slamming Glynda in the wall.**

 **Everyone had a shocked look at the professor, who's aura was already flickering from the use of her semblance and taking the hit.**

It was a little more than a simple dash punch and it did enough damage to but down possibly the strongest professor in Beacon.

"We're screwed." Yang bluntly said.

" **He used a Special art without a Driver." Dahlia said in horror. How powerful is he?**

"I take it that doesn't normally happen?" Penny asked.

"You are right. Only a few rare Blades are capable of such a feat." Luck answered. He is able to do so since Klaus specifically awakened him.

" **Nox, doesn't he some kind of weakness?" Blake asked in fear.**

" **The only real weakness of a fire Blade is water. But we do not have a water Blade. " Sadly Nox's text told the truth. They have wind, ice, and darkness, but not water. Then again, even if they had a water Blade, the dark Blade was very sure that Dragunov can't be stopped by a typical water Blade.**

"Even though ice is just solidified water? I guess were not allowed to make an easy exploit in this case." Ren said.

" **We need to use a Blade combo." Roze said earning Ruby's attention, even as the girl was shooting at Dragunov.**

" **That could work." Dahlia said as Weiss used another Healing Circle for everyone, especially Glynda and Yang.**

" **But we haven't had time to practice them other than the theory." Weiss protested. Though they now have three Blades, which is enough to form a combo, they don't have the ideal combination.**

"With just Roze and Dahlia, you do one true Blade combo while other variations would be generic combos which wouldn't be as powerful as a true combo. I'm not saying that the one between Roze and Dahlia is ideal, but it's the best you got. Not to mention you don't have full access to alternative combos." Luck explained.

"I don't know exactly how powerful Blade combos are, but they may have to be utilized." Ozpin was for that drastic decision. "If I may asked, what are the alternatives?"

"Driver combos can more rewarding than Blade combos, but that are not as easy to do since you need to be sure the combinations of Blades you have are able to so. In this order you must break an enemy's guard, topple them, launch them in the air, and then smash them down. You generally can't alter the order unless there are special exceptions and its recommended to have 4 or more Blades to join in. Fusion combos just combines both combos to deal devastating damage especially against clear and immediate threats like Immovable Gonzalez which can be a real pain if it just happens to be blocking the direct path of an area you need to go to." Luck explained.

The Remnans assumed that this Immovable Gonzalez must be a very powerful if not annoying being (if the name truly serves a purpose) for such power to be used against it. Power that may be guaranteed to be too much for Remnant aside from what the Aegis is capable of.

" **HIIIYYAAAAHHH!" Yang roared as she dashed at Dragunov and gave him a good punch to the face.**

 **Only, the dragonic Blade turned his head back to Yang, easily overpowering the fist that was still connected to his cheek. "You are weak and worthless, although your punch is at least… halfway decent." Dragunov said before hitting Yang with a rapid combo of punches and kicks.**

" **YANG!" Blake cried out as her partner was flung by a well placed kick to the stomach.**

Things were not looking well for Yang. A potential death threat for her and possibly her team, being physically overpowered, Blades being able to regenerate their wounds, and finally being disrespected in the most direct way she seen so far.

 **Ruby however, got a plan in her head from that last strike. "Don't worry Blake." Ruby said as she saw Yang getting up." With each hit she grows stronger, remember."**

"I do, yet its still halfway decent according to Dragunov's standards." Blake said.

 **Blake did remember that, but it doesn't make Yang invincible. Still, thanks to Weiss, Yang was given another aura restoration treatment.**

" **Still getting up." Dragunov said in a bored tone as he idly blocked and attack from Ozpin who was furious on the inside. "Why do you fight?" That question was followed by a tail swipe at Ozpin, which forced the headmaster to jump back.**

" **Why?" Yang's red eyes were like molten lava with the fury burning behind them. "You attacked my friends!" With that, Yang was trying to punch at Dragunov who was blocking every punch Yang threw at him, though with slightly more effort.**

"That a good enough reason for you?"

Its true that Dragunov stuck first, specifically against Yang.

"You were his only intended target until everyone else decided to join in. That changed his priorities." Luck said

Unfortunately, that was a fact.

" **They got in my way. It's your fault for being worthless." Dragunov countered as he kicked Yang in the stomach before grabbing her hair and slamming her face on the floor. Right before he could repeat the action he got pushed back by rose-exploding shots from Roze's Special lvl 1 Petal Blast. Followed by the combined Scythes striking him like a shuriken, Nox's Special lvl 2 Swirling Shadow. Finished with Dahlia rising on an icy pedestal while charging her bitball before firing icicles every which way, but only hitting Dragunov, Dahlia's Special lvl 3 Frost Queen."**

Aside from the actual action going on, a few students will officially dub Dahlia as the Frost Queen so Weiss will still be known as the Ice Queen.

Dahlia is still warmer than Weiss.

 **The last one pushed Dragunov back. He may be unkillable as a Blade, but he is not immune to fatigue, especially as some of the ice turned into water against his body. Sadly this isn't enough to weaken Dragunov significantly. "I… Will… Crush… You." Dragunov growled as he was pushed back. Sadly, what the three Blades hit him with was not a true Blade combo, just their Specials sprung together.**

"Even if it's not a true combo, it seems to he the greatness effect we've seen so far." Pyrrha gave her battle analysis.

"What ever works." Nora commented.

 **But since Dahlia's Frost Queen also heals allies, Yang was able to get up, although her nose was broken since her aura could only barely stopped her face from being caved. Then she saw something terrible. Dragunov had a few strands of Yang's hair in his hand from grabbing her earlier.**

Yang nearly exploded again, but Luck used the same skill from earlier to calm her down to some degree.

"He better hope that what I lost grew back when Dahlia used her Special." Yang is still pissed of that her face got disfigured during the fight. Apparently, it barely falls short compared to her anger when she loses her hair.

" **YOU MONSTER!" Was the shout that snapped the dragonic Blade into Yang's direction again. Only to get a semblance and fury fueled fist into his face.**

" ** _Where is this strength coming from?"_ Dragunov thought as he was slowly being pushed back by Yang's enhanced punch. Until he was flung into the wall so hard that he was actually buried into it.**

(OST end)

"...Hell… YES!" Yang cheered as she finally saw herself overpower the Blade near the end of an enduring battle.

 **Yang panted at the sight of the Blade buried into the wall as she finally allowed the unconsciousness to take her. Even though Weiss can heal and restore aura with Dahlia's power, it doesn't help with fatigue. Both from resonating with Dragunov, and this fight. Not to mention some of the strikes hurt a lot, despite her aura. "I'm… sorry guys." Yang said weakly as she was losing consciousness. She couldn't believe that she had somehow managed to put everyone in danger, especially Ruby… again." _I'm a failure of a sister."_ Was the last thought before the blonde brawler lost consciousness.**

"Again?"

"… I don't want to talk about it… yet." Yang temporarily denied everyone that information.

"Your not a failure Yang. You were almost always around when I need help. So was dad, but more so you. Whenever dad wasn't around and uncle was drunk either at someplace or on a mission, you took care of us at the house. Although your cooking isn't at the same level as mom's as far as I can remember, you are still a good cook." Ruby consoled her sister. "Your cookies do suck though so I'm better off making them and cake." Ruby unnecessarily added the last bit.

Yang got up and approached Ruby. "Aw, come here." She gave her sister a tight hug.

"Your… crushing… me" Ruby managed to say while bounded by Yang's hold. She was at least able to forearms enough to reack Yang's arms to tap a few times signaling her sister to let go.

" **Yang." Ruby cried out, running to her sister side. Roze still had his eyes on the motionless Blade. "Yang, wake up Ruby told her sister while shaking her.**

 **Blake quickly got to Yang to check her pulse. "...She's alive, just unconscious." Blake said with relief. "But we have to stop the bleeding." The cat faunus added as she looked at Yang's broken nose that had blood coming out of it.**

" **A Blade that tries to kill his Driver. I never thought such a possibility even existed." Nox showed everyone present on his scroll.**

 **At that moment, Oobleck entered the arena with Adenine. "Ozpin, where is the rampaging Blade?" The eccentric professor asked with an unusually grave tone.**

"A little late, professor." Yang said.

"Better late then never. There is an opportunity to restrain your Blade to the best of our ability. Also, it's 'Doctor Oobleck'."

" **Stuck on that wall." Ozpin replied while pointing at the said Blade. Then the headmaster turned towards the three Blades. "Is there really no way of stopping him? Other than the death of miss Xiao Long?" Ozpin then asked in a hard tone, earning a scared look from Ruby.**

" **H-headmaster, y-you can't mean." Ruby stammered with tears gathering in her eyes.**

" **Of course not." Ozpin said quickly. "Killing one of my students is never an option."**

Ozpin knew he didn't have to say anything.

" **Maybe we should seal him away somehow before he moves again." Glynda suggested, glaring at the behemoth that dared to attack them.**

To the headmaster, his basement was not an option.

 ***CRACK* Glynda really shouldn't have said the last part. *CRASH* Dragunov had managed to pull himself free from the wall with a grim look and bestial growl.**

" **Students, get ready." Ozpin said, as everyone prepared to fight this monster that proved itself more dangerous than any Grimm. But Ozpin was certain of one thing, none of them can fight forever against an opponent that recovers from anything they throw at it. Their only hope is to tire him out.**

"Damn, I don't think I can go for a round three." Yang felt stressed and a bit tired from reading this chapter. "I can keep read though.

"Personally, I think the best possible scenario was when the dragonic Blade was downed. Unless for some reason he stops, we're doomed.

Just in case, Ozpin had to mentally prepare what to say if this were to happen to his students.

* * *

The Nopon Archsage successfully opened the portals. Only a portion of them will allow certain people to pass through. They also happen to be place in somewhat convenient locations. Since two worlds are going to merge, the Archsage decided to personally test one of the dimensional portals to the worlds that remain seperate. He knows what wants and what he is willing to give.

* * *

 **Dragunov's Blade sheet**

 **Weapon: Knuckle Claws**

 **Element: Fire**

 **Field skills: Fire Mastery, Superstrength, Gemcraft**

 **Blade Arts: Damage Armor, Critical Up**

 **Blade Skills:**

 **1\. Rising Heat - Increased attack power at max affinity.**

 **2\. Burning Spirit - Grant a burning aura that heals based on damage inflicted on enemies for a time (allies are affected too.)**

 **3\. ? (not sure if Novice decided yet. I did give suggestions)**

 **Special Arts:**

 **Lvl 1 - Blazing Talon - Throw an explosive punch [single target]**

 **Lvl 2 - Wrath of the Dragon - A combo of explosive punches before ending with a superheated kick [single target]**

 **Lvl 3 - Burning Rage - Gather fire ether into hands before unleashing it into the earth, which is then released beneath the enemy in a towering swirl of flames [AOE]**

 **Lvl 4 - Exhaust Nova - Fire the hottest flames from the dragon heads to incinerate all enemies [AOE]**

 **Yang's Driver Arts:**

 **1\. Rising Dragon (single target, physical, inflicts launch)**

 **2\. Fever Rush (single target, physical)**

 **3\. Heatblast (Single target, ether, damage heals)**

 **Novice4129, feel free to let me know if any of the Blade sheets needs to be fixed or updated.**

 **Someone asked why I sometimes say what I'm working on next. If I don't say anything then its either a new story or the next chapter of the most recent updated story. Otherwise, I would say something for an existing story. I might do Another Survivor one last time.**


	12. Prologue 4-2

**A small explanation of what happened to the Castlevania update in November. I did a system update and downloaded new software. After the update, my permissions for the writing software I used somehow got locked. took nearly two weeks to try to fix my permissions until I realized that I could transfer the progress to MS Word, but I couldn't continue the progress because I'm too cheap to pay for an MS Office subscription (that's on me). That meant I have to retype everything along with reworking somethings. I put that on hold to try to work on this. I probably don't have enought time to get other things out this month cuz I a slow writer.**

 **With that out of the way, I personally think there was a Smash Bros reference and Dangan Ronpa near the end. Wouldn't mind Yang in Smash for fighter pass 2. Also considering to maybe use Discord for Smash and as a discussion board if I decide to host any events.**

 **Novice 4129, it's too late to post those vids of me vs PKSparkxx, Terry vs Yoshi. This was after week 1 of Terry's release. Record was 1-3 with me losing right after my win game 1. Got knocked out of elite at the time because of that.**

 **To anyone who like art, this is something I said in a PM: Some humans and faunus throughout Remnant, independent or belonging to some sort of faction may end up smiling a Jaques' demise. If he saw any of them he would most likely, in a psychological sense, see the blank faces of people with a creepy smile slowly adorning their blank faces. Only detailed faces would be Watts with a smirking at what he accomplished, Ironwood's look of disappointment, blank stares from his wife and daughters, and the look of despair from his son.**

 **That is just an alpha version of a potential picture and is now supported with the fact that Jaques got elected as an Atlas councilman.**

* * *

Winter had just finished giving detail report of her most recent mission to General Ironwood in the headmaster's office in Atlas Academy.

"Now specialist Schnee, I need you to-" Ironwood was interrupted by an urgent incoming call from one of his best scientist who was temporarily stationed in Vale until he is recalled to Atlas. "Is something wrong doctor Polendina?"

"Penny is missing." Pietro answered in panicked stated He found out via the security systems in his current area and the silent alarm he installed in Penny should he wander too far away or if something happened to her.

This news now had Ironwood's full attention. Not only did he lose an important assest to his military as well as his potential world defender, he also lost his niece since he help build Penny. "Tell me the situation." The general commanded.

"As you are aware, I have decided to restrict Penny's movement after the incident at Vale's docks to a certain degree while giving her some freedom."

"I am aware of the report you submitted and how Penny was involved. That was sometime, but not too long ago. Continue doctor."

"Penny had just finished her training routine with some of our Atlesian troops and I reviewed the data with here. After the review I sent her to her quarters to rest while I worked on the development of our Paladins. After a short period of time, I recieved a notifaction on my scroll the the silent alarm I had installed in Penny went off and I rushed to her quarters." Pietro Polendina reported.

"Is Penny aware of that alarm." The general asked.

"No."

"Permission to speak, General?" Winter requested.

"Granted."

"This is either an inside job or we are dealing with highly skilled kidnappers. May I also request to lead the search for Ms. Polendina?"

I accept your your help, Specialist Schnee." Pietro was thankfully. "However, I must disprove one of your assumptions. There are no signs of suspicious people within the area and no signs of forced entry or exit in Penny's room. A third party is unlikely and..." Pietro just got a notification on his scroll. "I just got word from security that there are no signs of our equipment being hacked or footage of unauthorized entry."

"Are you say she just suddenly disappeared from within her room?"

"Yes General, but I also have another bit of news related to the matter. However, it can be considersed as both good and bad." Pietro informed. "It may be a bit better if I show you." The scientist forwarded the information for Ironwood and Winter to see.

The recipients were baffled. According to the data, Penny is in the area of the Sanus continent, but the problem was the altitude.

"Impossible! Not even our most advanced ship are able to reach that altitude and it's not decreasing." Winter stated.

"To be honest, I even doubt that any third party on Remnant is able to attain the technology to reach that altitude. Dust wouldn't even be useful at that height." Ironwood could not determine how this was possible. "Did you focus your sight on the coordinates with a zoomed perspective Doctor?"

"I did, but I was unable to find anything."

The tree were then interrupted by an incoming call from an Atlesian scientist who also happened to be a third year student of Atlas Academy. Irornwood answered and let the caller enter his current channel with Pietro. "Yes."

"Sir, we are detecting an incoming energy spike in your office."

"What?!" The other three people in the group call responded.

Pietro easily used his remote access to Atlas Academy and verified that the news was true. "Energy spike incoming in 30 seconds!" The genius scientist warned the General and specialist.

That wasn't enough time to be fully prepared, but the two military officials did what they could until the energy spike occured.

"... I'm not seeing anything." Ironwood said which confused both of the scientists in the call.

"But the anomaly is there." The scientists said together.

"Sir, they may have been right. The anomaly is right in the center of your office." Winter confirmed. The energy spike appeared relatively close to her just a bit out of arms reach.

"Are you certain?" The general wanted confimation since he nor Pietro or the student scientist could see it for differing reasons, but the signal is certainly being picked up.

"Yes, sir."

"I'll take your word for it. Please walk away from the anomaly." The general ordered.

"The anomaly must be studied. How it formed, why its in Ironwoods's office of all places, any why certain people or at least you can see it."

As soon as Winter tried to step away she was engulfed in a blue light and disappeared. From the perspective of others, her body shined with a blue etheral light and faded away.

"WINTER!"

* * *

Qrow had just exited a bar and was more drunk than normal since he decided to to order the stangest drink available. He was not as coherent when compared to his normal druken state.

As he stumbled through the allyways to reach the inn to rest before continuing his mission an etheral blue light appeared before him. Given his current state he did as some drunks would do. "Mmm, nice light." He walked into the light and disappeared.

* * *

Some amount of time has passed since the birth of a new world without gods. All life that had come from the Bionis and the Mechonis are now united and are continuing to grow to create the best possible future for them.

Shulk and Fiora were relaxing at Outlook Park in Colony 9. Fiora had prepared lunch for herself and Shulk and once again had to deal with Shulk's lack of taste, but she believes that his taste is not as bad when compared to the past.

Just when that had finished eating they had noticed that the Alrest Linkring started to glow abnormally on Shulk's right hand.

"What's happening Shulk?" Fiora asked.

"Maybe something is happening in Rex's world. It's worth checking out to see if he and his friends are okay. Do you want to come with me?

"Of course." Fiora was ready to help her otherworldy friends. The portal already being located in Outlook Park played a minor part in her decision.

* * *

Elma recently finished a research and escort mission in the deepest part of Noctilum with her squad. Combat became necessary because of the rather passionate researcher she was escorting, but the mission was still able to be completed. Luckily her squad didn't have to engage one of the most dangerous creature in the Noctilum region and possible the stongest creature she had found since her time on Mira, the Telethia.

Elma took time to relax in the brracks and ate some of Lin's food. Eventually she decided to engage in the simulator that was provided by a Nopon trader. As soon as she sat in the chair for the simulation she felt the Alrest Link Relay react within her ground gear.

Maybe something is happening in Alrest? Elma decided to investigate.

* * *

Rex, Pneuma, and the rest of their friends are coming close to the end of their battle with Logos. During that battle the Conduit became fully activated, but only for a set amount of time.

Sensing all of this, Klaus decided that it was time to start the process of the merger.

"My last gift to all of you."

* * *

The readers were now ready to engage in the reading. Of course, they were a bit tense on what will happen with the dragonic Blade.

 **Burning Resolve and Memories**

I **n the Beacon infirmary, Yang was stirring after what could've been hours after she lost consciousness. Lilac eyes opened, taking in her surroundings. "Why am I in the infirmary?" Yang wondered before she felt throbbing pain in her nose. "What the heck." Yang complained as she brought a hand to her nose, feeling that there was something covering it. and then she felt some kind of bandage on it.**

"I'm about to cause some chaos if my face has any sign of permanent damage." In regards to her body, her face was the second most important part of her after her hair.

 **"Oh, miss Xiao Long. You're awake." Said the head nurse Gray.**

 **Yang glanced at the nurse in confusion. "What happened?" Yang asked as she tried to think back on why she would be in the bed. And then it hit her, the Blade that tried to kill her. "Where's Dragunov!?"**

 **"Who?" Nurse Gray asked in confusion.**

Thats a bit odd. Was Dragunov not walking freely in Beacon after what happened in the previous chapter?

" **Where's my team?" Yang asked in distress, fearing for the worst as the other beds in the infirmary were empty.**

 **"Your team is waiting for a call to inform of any change in your condition." Gray explained calmly.**

Had it been worst case scenario I don't this story would have continued or at least not progress however it did. As far as he or anyone else knew, there was no flow chart for different chains of events. Then again they are still in the prologue stories.

 **"What about Dragunov?" Yang asked again, wanting to know what happened to the bastard.**

 **"I don't know who that is." Gray responded as she quickly made the call to the rest of team RWBY.**

 **As Gray made the call, Yang started questioning if what happened was a dream. No. If it was a dream, then why was her nose wrapped up. She remembered that monster smashing her face on the floor. " _What's going on?_ " Yang thought, still fearing that the monster might've done something to her team, especially Ruby. And then the guilt set in again. " _I promised myself that I would never put Ruby in danger like that again. Where did it all go wrong?_ " Yang let out a few tears despite her best efforts to prevent it.**

Was it awakening a Blade? But that did happen with the rest her team. Well, Nox was a different, but he didn't attack his Driver. Yang was starting to think she just had a bad roll of the dice when her other awakened a Blade.

 **But she had to stop as she suddenly felt a red homing missle glomping her. "Yang! I'msohappyyou'reokayIwassoworriedIdidn'tknowif-" Ruby's rant was interrupted by Yang giving her a bone crushing hug.**

 **"I'm so sorry, Ruby. I'm so sorry." Yang sobbed as she held onto Ruby like she was afraid that the little red reaper would disappear if she let go.**

 **"...Yang... can't... breath." Ruby wheezed out, which prompted Yang to loosen her grip. Lossen, but not let go.**

"I could have sworn that my life was going to fade away right there. Yang, I love you to death the same way you and dad love me, but I think you might going a bit far there."

"Alright, maybe I'll tone down the strenght just a little."

Ruby was still a bit fearful of a hug from her sister. "And how much is a little?"

Yang ignored that question and returned to reading.

"Don't ignore me." Ruby made a fuss until she was force to sit down quietly by her partner.

 **"How cute." said a voice that rang alarm bells in Yang's head.**

 **" _No! No, no, no, no._ " Yang hyperventilated in her head as she looked beyond Ruby to see who else had arrived. Sure enough, it was Dragunov. Standing in front of the doorway he had to wiggle through because of his size. Actually, he had to bend over a little now because his horns still don't fit in this room. Yang didn't think. She jumped out of the bed and tried to punch Dragunov in the face. Unfortunately, the dragonic Blade caught Yang's fist without any effort this time.**

Yang could have said something about the horns of the size of the Blade right there, but she was about the action right now. It's another chance to put the Blade in his place.

To everyone else, that wasn't the smartest thing to do since Yang just woke up in the infirmary.

 **"Do you honestly believe you can harm me in that condition?" Dragunov asked while staring down at Yang with an unimpressed looked.**

 **"Yang, wait! He's not the enemy anymore." Ruby cried out as she tried to defuse the situation.**

 **"That's not for you to decide, pipsqueak." Dragunov said with a glare at Ruby, causing the younger girl to flinch.**

Yang kept her thoughts to her self. She didn't like how Dragunov was talking to Ruby in that short exchange. He's right about one thing, the relationship of her and the Blade still remains as enemies.

 **"Watch your tone, beast." Said Roze from the doorway with what sounded like his Blade weapon being cocked. "I'm still don't trust you. So give me one excuse to shoot you." the rose themed Blade threatened.**

 **Dragunov's tail swished as he smiled without turning to the wind Blade. "I told you, I will give the girlie a chance to make me eat my words."**

 **During this exchange, Yang looked between Ruby and Dragunov in confusion. "What the heck is going on!?"**

"You're being given a chance to prove the dragonic Blade. A golden opportunity, Ms. Xiao Long. Although I would perfer a a nonviolent solution since you have just regained consciousness." Ozpin knew that was highly unlikely given his student's behavior along with the events in the previous chapter.

"No promises." Yang said as she clenched her free hand, cracking her knuckles.

 **"Umm... You see... the thing is." Ruby stammered, not sure how to break this.**

 **"I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself worthy of my might." Dragunov answered for Ruby. "If you don't impress me... Well I will continue from where we left off, until you're dead and I get to wait for a more worthy Driver." The dragonic Blade said with a savage grin before letting go of Yang's fist. "And so far... I think that last punch was just a fluke." The fire Blade said mockingly, referring to the final attack Yang managed to get in before losing consiousness.**

"That wasn't a lucky punch. I just waited for his guard to be lowered and I attacked." Yang tried to play off as if that was intended when it was just an attack out of rage for seeing some hair loss.

"You know that wasn't planned." Weiss sighed.

 **This made Yang see red for more than one reason. "Oh I'll show you fluke, you horny bastard." the blonde bombshell threaten, just as her body started aching now that the burst of adrenaline had passed. Which eventually caused her body to tremble as it tried to support her weight.**

 **"Yang." Ruby called out as she dashed to support her sister. "Your aura is working overtime on trying to restore you. Please don't push yourself." Ruby pleaded with her best puppy dog eyes. Even as Dragunov started laughing like a maniac.**

 **"Horny!? That's not even an insult to me." Dragunov said through his laughter, holding his stomach all the while. But then, just as suddenly as the enormous fire Blade started laughing, he stopped. "And for your information, my thoughts are ruled by this." Dragunov said, while tapping his head. "Not this." And then pointed to his crotch, causing Yang's eyes to widen at the vulgar declaration that this guy made in front of Ruby. "So if you think those things are enough to sway me, then you're just a worthless piece of glass." Those words where emphasized by a flick at Yang's breasts.**

"...Wow." The Beacon students who weren't Yang couldn't believe the Blade just went there. Although, in the deepest part of Weiss' conciousness was suggesting that she smirk at the unintended ineffectivness of Yang's assets, but she restrained herself.

" Beating him down is no longer enough now." Yang spoke though her rising level of rage. She did continue reading.

Ren was ready to interfer just in case Yang's rage would cause a similar delay and if Luck didn't do anything like last time.

 **"Hey!" Yang was righteously pissed off at her personal space being breached by this sexist. Unfortunately, she was ignored as Dragunov turned to leave the room to who knows where. Roze moving aside as the fire Blade tried to get past the doorway.**

 **"RRRGGHHH! THAT'S IT!" Dragunov roared, having enough of struggling through passageways that were designed for pipsqueaks. So he smashed his way out of the infirmary instead of carefully wiggling his way out.**

 **"HEY!" Nurse Gray shouted in outrage at the doorway being smashed. "Who does he think he is?" Gray complained at the sight of her infirmary being destroyed. "Now I have to call Glynda to fix this."**

"She will not like that." Ozpin commented. To be honest, it's kinda sad that she gets paid more than Ozpin. She is more or less the headmistress when Ozpin isn't around, his secretary when he is around, a combat instructor, and does structural maintenace. That doesn't include her role his his secret brotherhood with the maidens.

That doesn't matter to Ozpin since he has lived several lives and could have easily manages his own fortune a lot better than most people. It's actually cheaper to keep Gylnda around than paying other sources for anything and to deal with the stress he and the students cause her.

 **All the while Yang was fuming at not only having her strength insulted, but also her body. "You just wait until I get better." The extremely offended blonde grumbled.**

 **This level of fury scared Ruby. Her sister only had this much anger when her hair was damaged. "Umm... When will Yang's nose heal?" Ruby decided to ask Gray.**

 **The nurse paused in a call she was about to make to answer. "With the rate her aura is recharging, I'd say she'll be fine next morning at latest. As for her exhaustion, all she needs to do is rest." With that out of the way. Gray went to call Glynda.**

Just a day of recovery? Sounds good, especially for Yang.

 **"Soo. Yang, do you want to get to our dorm?" Ruby asked carefully.**

 **"..Yeah." Yang said, trying to calm down from what that bastard said. "I'll show him who's glass." The blonde bombshell wasn't sure why Dragunov called her glass, but she was pretty sure it was some kind of derogatory term. But for now, "So what happened while I was out?"**

 **"It's.. kind of a long story." Ruby replied as she started helping Yang to their dorm. It probably would've been easier to stay in the infirmary, but Yang never liked hospitals.**

 **"We've got a long way to the dorm." Yang replied as they passed Roze who fell in line to follow.**

To Yang, hospitals were just another variation of a prison. People keep you down to recover and the food, while ediable, is not that great. Horror movies don't do much aside from saying hospitals are kinda scary at night and some doctors could potentially be a professional killer. The latter mostly relates only to digital media and entertainment.

Yang believe its better to recieve your treatment, pay whatever you have to, and recover at home.

 **As Yang was being carted off to team RWBY's room, Dragunov was once again walking around this so called combat school. " _Combat school my tail. This place is a kindergarten of ignorant brats pretending to be fighters._ " Dragunov thought as he saw a group of students joking about something. But the girl that was supposed to be his Driver was the one he was disappointed in the most. The first thing he sees after waking up, was the blonde on her knees. Then she dare tries to seduce him, like she was some kind of animal in heat. And then... she dared to say that she had no reason to gain power. That was the ultimate insult for the dragonic Blade.**

Being on her knees was just an effect from the awakening which everyone can accept since Blade are relatively new. Yang was pissed off at the seducing comment which was bullshit. And what was wrong with not having a reason to gain power and how would that insult anyone?

Yang would have hold on to that anger if it hadn't abnormally subsided thanks to To Luck's ability.

Ren didn't have to do anything.

 **Although... when he punched her and she survived, Dragunov thought he must've held back without realizing it. But no matter how much he harmed her, no matter what he said, she still got back up and even gave one punch that rivaled his own strength. That was when he wondered if there was more to that girl than the poor first impression he was given. " _So far, I think she's just glass. Waiting to be smashed._ " Dragunov laughed at his mental joke, causing a few heads to turn to him. Paying them no mind, Dragunov kept walking the hallways... and then his nose twitched. " _There he is again._ " Dragunov thought as he smiled at the dark Blade that had been watching him for some time now. Unfortunately, the guy was good, meaning that the dragon could only tell that the Blade called Nox was nearby, but not the exact location.**

Yang was going to remember that sex joke about her, and she doubted the thought Dragunov was holding back after being awakened and causing a scene.

Luck knew that Dragunov being at his full potential would be a completely different story.

Having Nox tail the dragonic Blade was a good move and it help reveal Dragunov's awareness via smell even if he can't pinpoint a location just from this instance. If Nox's location was revealed then that could potentially make Dragunov a bad matchup for the dark Blade since a silent assassination or silent assault is off the table. Then that battle would be determined by other factors.

 **" _Hmph, not my problem._ " Dragunov thought as he instead focused on the talk he had with this place's headmaster. Supposedly the awakening drains these people of what they call 'aura', which explains how the girl and non-Drivers were able to withstand his attacks, but apparently rapid aura exhaustion also tires the body. Meaning that the girl wasn't on her knees because she was that horny. But then he also remembered the little bits he heard in the fight, the girl basically took all the damage he caused and used it against him. " _Interesting power, but useless if the opponent manages to break every bone in her body._ " Still... the girl possesses... decent amount of strength on her own, but she clearly doesn't know how to use it properly. Evidenced by her strategy of barging in hoping that she can just overpower her enemy. " _Then again, so do I... Except, I only use as much power as I need. Otherwise I might kill someone or something that doesn't need to die._ " As Dragunov finished that thought, he heard a chirp right next to his head. He turned his head to see that on one of the necks of his sleeping stone dragon heads was a tiny bird, staring at the Blade in curiosity. Dragunov had unknowingly made his way outside and taken a seat near a garden where this cute flying thing was looking for a perch.**

"Finally, he gets some things right. Thanks, Professor Ozpin." The blonde bombshell credited her headmaster. "But that isn't enough to lessen the beating I'm gonna give that guy."

 **"Hey there." Dragunov greeted playfully at the little bird that jumped of the perch to his shoulder, inspecting this strange creature. Right before nuzzling it's head against the comfy warmth that was Dragunov's cheek The dragonic Blade responded by lightly stroking the little one with the underside of his finger that had skin instead of stone. "Am I that comfortable to you?" Dragunov asked the little bird that seemed to love the treatment. The birdie chirped happily, before deciding to fly off. "Guess not." The dragon joked as his tail swished playfully... unfortunately, turning over some of the ground in the process.**

 **But that didn't matter, the only thing Dragunov cared about was if that girl can manage to prove him wrong in his current assessment of her. " _Are you glass, or are you a gem?_ " Dragunov thought as he took a comfortable position so he could nap. But he had one last thought that made him worry just a little. " _If she really was in a weakened state after awakening me, then I might have to apologize._ " Dragunov can be harsh in his judgment, but he's also man enough to admit being wrong. Sadly he doesn't like doing so very much.**

As Weiss would always say, 'first impressions are important'. But both Yang and Dragunov left a negative impression on each other for different reasons. However, it seems that a reassessment will occur. The readers just hoped that event won't be as choatic and the previous assessment.

Glass or a gem? That remained in Yang's head. She most certainly believed that she wasn't glass. Beating down that Blade may satisfy her, but will that really be enough to be considered a gem? Yang shook her head."What matter's now is proving that guy wrong."

* * *

 **In Alrest, a silver haired man had walked into the command bridge of a ship to witness an interesting sight. A blonde man was holding what looked like a ring with larger than usual diamond on it. Sighing like his heart was broken, which it probably was considering the rest of the people here.**

 **"... What happened here?" The silver haired man asked as he looked at the other people on the bridge. A woman with long black hair who looked like she was in a very bad mood. And a black haired yound man, who wore glasses, looked highly amused at whatever happened.**

"Now we are back in Alerest and already meeting new characters. Other than knowing who that are I'm interested in what they could potentially tell us about their world." Oobleck said. Then he stated something He noticed about the silver haired man's head. "His Core Crystal on is a different color than most other Blades we've seen."

"Maybe he's like the Pyrrha look alike." Nora suggested.

"An Aegis?" Ozpin considered as he adopted a thinking position "Well, it's possible. Of course, the only possible evidence to support that claimed would be the Blade known as Pyra... or Mythra from the previous chapter."

"Call her how ever you like. And the Blade you are seeing right now is certainly one of the most powerful Blades in Alrest." Luck said.

"I think we'll stick to calling her Pyra." Jaune said.

"For obvious reasons." Yang commented while looking at Pyrrha. "Speaking of look alike, doesn't this guy look similar to a Schnee?"

"Well... maybe. He does have a similar color scheme." Blake commented.

"That isn't enough and we don't even know enough to even make an early conclusion about him." Weiss said. While that is true she took a moment to look at him until a thought came in her mind. "It does feeel like he has some aura of regality."

Weiss was right. The Blade did look like a noble who happened to be wearing battle armor and there isn't direct conformation yet that this Blade could be an Aegis assuming that just having a different color Core Crystal is enough proof.

Luck just let the readers draw their own conclusions about the Blade. Luckily, no one asked him for info about the Blade.

" **Mikhail tried to propose to Patroka." The black haired bespectacled young man said, suppressing a snicker as he did.**

 **The blonde man, apparently named Mikhail looked annoyed at the young man. "No! I simply tried to give her a fitting gift."**

 **"You can shove it up your ass, idiot." The woman who was probably Patroka said with more venom than usual. Which is saying a lot when it comes to Mikhail and his attempts to woo her. "I don't like something so girly." Patroka said as she focused on what she was doing on one of the consoles on the ship.**

If something was needed to temporarily block thoughts about Dragunov, then a this little acted aside from the silver haired Blade's appearance certainly did work. Only a temporary diversion.

 **"...Can you blame a guy for trying?" Mikhail said in disappointment at yet another another one of his wooing attempts failing.**

"Seems like he handles failure better barf boy." Yang 's comment made Jaune slump as he remembers his failed attempts to ask out Weiss. Yang and Nora even say that Jaune's methods are cheesy.

 **"Patroka." Jin said, earning the woman's attention. "...Daimond is one of the hardest natural substances in the world. I believe Mikhail meant that the diamond fits you because of it's beauty and strength that he sees in you."**

 **That explanation made everyone stare at Jin like he grew a second head. None of them had heard him talk unless he had something important to say, much less in a poetic manner.**

 **"...That's... very poetic." The black haired young man said as he glanced at Mikhail. "...I might have to admit, were surprisingly thoughtful this time."**

 **"Akhos, don't encourage him." Patroka shouted to the young man named Akhos. Despite the woman blushing profusely at Jin's words. Though it was far more likely that it was the fact the words came out of Jin specifically, that it caused her face to imitate a tomato.**

Jaune started to think. Did he need a wingman to have success. He looked at Ren's direction.

"I'm sorry, but no." Ren denied his leader, mostly because of his own inexperience with women. Ren is maybe better than Jaune.

"Y-yeah, I'm awesome like that." Mikhail said with a faux confidence.

 **"...I take it back, You're still an idiot." Akhos said, catching onto Mikhail not having thought something that deep.**

"I was starting to think that he actually got game compared to Jaune." Yang commented. "Hmm, maybe he still does." She then added.

 **"Is everything alright here otherwise?" Jin asked, returning to the real reason he was here.**

 **"Yes, nothing to report." Akhos said while fixing his glasses. "Systems are still running at optimal capacity."**

 **"Though, we might have to restock on ammo because of that Ardainian patrol we ran into." Patroka continued, having done an inventory of their ammo.**

 **"I see." Jin said simply. "Then I suppose we must return to our base for the moment."**

A ship battle with a patrol... that patrol could have been anything and depending on what it was it could either paint the people being seen as either the good guys or the bad guys.

 **As Jin left, Mikhail looked after their retreating leader. Still wondering where he realized to compare Patroka's beauty and strength to a diamond. What none of them realize is that the words Jin used was just something an old friend of his would've said if he were here.**

 **As Jin walked through the halls of the ship, his thoughts returned to the said friend who's words he had borrowed. " _I wonder if Dragunov would agree with what I have decided._ " Jin couldn't help thinking. As some of the strongest Blades of Torna, Jin and Dragunov were bound to meet each other in the Aegis War. However, while Jin could honestly say that they got along with each other almost as well as their Drivers did with each other, there was one aspect of that muscle head's personality he couldn't stand any more than Lora, or even Thauron could. But now... he almost misses it... Almost. " _I must be losing my mind if I start missing that verbal torture he dared to call humor._ " Jin thought with a smile he thought he wasn't capable of anymore. The smile which quickly faded as he remembered Lora's face when she heard of Thauron's death by Malos' hand. " _...I hated Malos so much at the time for making Lora cry._ " Jin thought sadly, but now... he was working with the very man that killed someone Lora cared about. So ironic, but sadly it doesn't matter anymore to Jin.**

 **" _Although... I wonder, what did Malos do to Dragunov's Core._ " The silver haired Blade then thought, entertaining the thought of asking Malos about it. If only to know what happened to the Blade he once called a friend and ally.**

"He knows about Dragunov and the name Thauron came up again. He still remembers even after 500 years in Alrest time. It's unlikely that any normal living being could live that long. Does that mean an Aegis can remain active even without a Driver or he kept a journal like Brighid before he reverted back to a Crystal." Penny reviewed the information that she was given.

"That certainly is an interesting subject, but it would be over shadowed by this 'Aegis War'. What were the circumstances that lead to it and how did it affect the world?" The good Doctor asked.

"And how is this Malos guy related to that time aside from being the killer of Dragunov's previous Driver?" Jaune asked.

"I'll give a bit of information, a sumerized version." Luck spoke. "the main event that lead to the start of the war was a man's search of an answer behind his beliefs of 'humanities corruption' by making a dangerous climb up universal landmark from the outside. Though that man did get to the top, he didn't find what he wanted. As proof of his climb, he took two Core Crystals from a certain 'pedestal' that was missing a piece. From the two Core Crystals he awakened as Aegis who resonated with negative stance about the world and that Blade eventaully went off on his own to destroy the world. That Blade was Malos. The man then sought someone else to awaken the other Aegis to stop Malos. The second Aegis would be Mythra. As for the aftermath, three Titan, our living landmasses, died. One of them being the Tornan Titan. Two other Titans were damaged yet still remain alive. Tornan survivors were evacuated to another Titan which hid itself for 5 centuries. Malos was damaged, but remained active. Mythra resticted her power after the war when she saw the destuction that her battle with Malos caused along with the death of people who were relatively important to her. Those restrictions lead to her sword being sealed somewhere in Alrest and the creation of Pyra who was also sealed away somewhere." While that explanation was somewhat long, it was still the sumerized version of the most important events of the past.

That information tells the Remnans that Malos, who is an Aegis, is not only killer, but also an instigator of war which was influenced by the circumstances of his awakening. He remained active for 500 years in Alrest time even after being 'damaged' while Pyra/Mythra were sealed. A third Aegis Core was missing, which could mean that someone else did the exact same thing as the guy who awakened Malos.

The truth behind the missing Aegis Core remained hidden, even Luck didn't know everything despite having the Architect's knowledge. Maybe the time of his awakening was the critical factor. He did know that Jin is not an Aegis, but it seems that the readers are thinking he is at the moment. Luck won't correct them.

"If you would like, we can take a 10 minute recess to digest the information or you can continue and finish the chapter." Luck said.

"It's your choice Ms. Xiao Long." Ozpin said.

"...I'll take the short break."

"Alright, every is dismiss and we will continue in the main lobby." Luck said.

Everyone decided to do their own thing during the recess while processing the information until they can back to the area where the viewing initially started.

 **"A gold for your thoughts?" Speak of the black haired devil of a man who had a knowing smile.**

 **"...It's nothing." Jin said simply, looking away from Malos.**

 **"If you say so." Malos shrugged as he moved on.**

So this is Malos. An Aegis and war agent. Knowing that certainly leaves a negative impression on his appearance.

"I don't see his Core Crystal. He probably has it covered with that plate over his chest. If not for that then he could easily pass off as a normal human in armor. Hmm, to what extent was his damage? Hair line fracture? Multiple cracks?" Penny said. "...Maybe...a piece is missing?" Penny nor anyone else from Remnant could be sure of the last one. The second answer seemed to be the most likely. At least for now.

" **...Malos." Jin said earning the man's attention.**

 **"What is it?" Malos asked, waiting on what Jin wanted to say.**

 **"...What happened to Dragunov?" The silver haired Blade asked from the person he now calls partner.**

 **"Dragunov?" Malos looked thoughtful as he tried to put a face to the name. "...Doesn't ring a bell. Was he a Driver or a Blade?"**

While the current impression of Dragunov could be considered mixed at best, he will be getting some defense against this comment. This destoyer didn't remember who Dragunov was? It's possible that he could have gone back to being a Core Crystal, but if he didn't then this was a straight disrespectful statement.

 **"...A fire Blade with a body mostly covered in stone... You killed his Driver." Jin clarified without emotion.**

 **That made Malos think harder. "...Oh yeah! I remember, that guy thought his power was greater than mine." Malos chuckled as he remembered how he stripped that delusion out of the dragonic Blade. "Although, he was certainly strong. Stronger than any normal Blade." Malos said with a far away look.**

That bit seemed to enough to jog the destructive Aegis' memory and the added acknowledgement Dragunov's power meant he left an impression... which wasn't immediately remember.

 **"...What did you do with his Core Crystal?" Jin asked as Malos didn't answer his question yet.**

 **"Oh right." Malos said with a sheepish look. "I was planning to destroy his Core Crystal. But before I could do that, some kind of hole opened up right next to the Crystal, sucking it in."**

 **"...A hole?" Jin asked skeptically. "Like on the ground?"**

 **"No, in the air. I thought some special Blade did something to snatch the Crystal away at the time." Malos explained, before having a more serious look. "But over the years I have witnessed similar incidents happening every few decades. Sucking in anything within the area as it did such as Core Crystals that happened to be lying around. Although sometimes I saw animals or even plants being sucked in."**

 **"...Do you have any idea what caused it?" Jin asked, sounding more curious than probably ever.**

 **Malos shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. But as long as whatever it is isn't interfering with our operations then I don't care." With that, Malos moved away, leaving Jin to his thoughts.**

"Pardon the interruption, but Blades have appeared recently in Remnant while they have been disappearing over the course of 500 years in Alrest. It contradicts the time conversion you gave us." Oobleck said.

"Yes. And?" Luck believed the doctor can come up with his own conclusion.

Dr. Oobleck took a moment to think. "It is a different reality from our own some maybe the time conversion between worlds are greatly different."

"Correct. Also, the Architect does have a technique to bypass that. It could have been used to get you all here, but Your world is a lot closer to my version of Alrest so there is no need." Luck said.

* * *

 **Back in Beacon, it was night-time right now, and students had gone to bed. Well one was still up in the gymnasium. Yang was unable to sleep, her thoughts haunted by her failure at becoming a Driver. Which is also why she was beating the stuffing out of a punching bag, pretending that it was Dragunov's smug face. Unfortunately, no matter how much she punched she just got angrier and angrier. "RRRAAAAGGHHHH!" With a mighty roar, Yang punched the sack and it was flung off it's straps, spreading it's stuffing around as it did. "...No, this isn't enough." Yang panted, furious at the sight of the bag like it had wronged her. Forgoing her usual attire, she wore a black tank top with orange work out pants without shoes. She also had her hair in a pony tail to keep it out of her way.**

That punching bag will be missed after being around for a few seconds.

 **"That was a good punch." Said a voice that made Yang snap in the direction of the intruder. Sure enough, it was Dragunov who was sitting on the benches comfortably, despite the ting obviously straining to carry his weight. "but a bag doesn't hit back." The dragonic Blade said smugly.**

"I might need stronger material." Ozpin off handily said.

"How do you know that that punching bag is not a sentient, mute masochist." Luck said, which confused the readers.

 **"Shut up." Yang said, walking away.**

 **However, Dragunov had other ideas. "Go ahead and run... After all, the only thing good about you are those bags of fat hanging from your chest.**

Nora put a closed hand over her mouth and leaned back into her seat. "Daammmnnn."

Ruby considered leaving the immediate area to avoid a potentially explosive Yang. As a matter in fact, she did.

 **That made Yang stop mid-stride. "What did you say?" Yang asked in a threatening tone. Any person who knew Yang cover before that tone.**

Some of the readers started to think it was best to do what Ruby did. Luckily, this isn't the only room to view the story.

 **However, Dragunov didn't know Yang nor did he feel like this girl was a threat in any way. "You heard me! I want a strong Driver to unlock my power." The dragonic Blade said as he stood up smugly, which morphed into a frown. "Sadly, I'm stick with someone who looks like she should be someone's trophy instead of being a fighter."**

"Oh fuck you!" Yang was not gonna let that comment stand.

 **Yang's eye twitched as the bastard hit a nerve. "...What's that supposed to mean?" This wasn't the first time someone had said something like that. Even some of the more idiotic guys at Signal said something like that. Even after she proved herself time and time again.**

Those guys eventually learned their lesson, but all those beatings and academic achievements were necessary for Yang. Although some things weren't ignored by Ozpin when she applied for Beacon. Yet she still got in.

 **"Simple, your place is in the kitchen and bedroom because that's the only use you will ever have." The male said as if he stated a fact. "Or is it so hard to grasp for a brainless bimbo? Seeing as you probably traded your brains for funbags."**

"Bartholomew, I believe it's best to follow our students."

"Indeed, Ozpin." The headmaster and doctor left the area, leaving only Penny and Luck with Yang.

Penny stayed just so someone from Remnant can watch Yang and Luck just trusted his own luck for any potential damage to occur around him and leave his space undisturbed.

 **" _That does it!_ " Yang screamed in her head before lunging at the smug bastard. Unfortunately, Dragunov saw the attack coming from a mile away as he dodged the first punch, before kneeing Yang in the stomach and slamming her down with both first. Then, as Yang tried to get back up, Dragunov stepped on her back before bending over to twist one of her arms painfully. Earning a scream out of her.**

 **Now do you see what I mean." Dragunov said as he added more weight to his leg. "This is where you belong... under my foot."**

 **"...Screw you." Yang said through the pain her back and arm were taking.**

 **"Why can't you just accept the natural order of things?" Dragunov said like a parent scolding a child.**

 **"Who the hell decides that?" Yang said, as the pain Dragunov was causing to her somewhat recovered aura was slowly turning into power. "No one tells me what I can and can't be except me!" Even in the position she was in, Yang refused to give in to this bastard.**

"Anger levels are still rising and are not in a moderate danger zone." Penny observed Yang.

 **"...Why don't you give up?" Dragunov asked as he twisted Yang's arm more. Causing the girl to wince more.**

 **"...Because... I refuse to be looked down on anyone! Especially by someone who is so desperate to feel superior, that they spout bullshit just to stroke their own EGO!" With that declaration, Yang managed to yank her arm with a strength that surprised Dragunov, before using both arms to force herself up, causing the dragonic Blade to lose his balance. The strength that Yang managed to accumulate from the damage the asshole caused was enough to overpower the Blade. That same strength was then used to deliver one mighty punch into the one place she thought it would hurt him the most, his Core Crystal.**

Otherwise it would have been at a generally exclusive part of the male body.

 **Unfortunately for Yang, Dragunov realized what the blonde attempted and dropped himself to the ground. Which made Yang's punch sail past him, inches away from the forehead. Then Dragunov sprung himself back up using his tail to uppercut the now open blonde. However, he didn't stop there as he pummeled Yang with a series of punches that ended with a well placed round house kick into her side. With that, Yang was flung into the wall before slumping to the ground. Her aura flickering before she lost consciousness.**

 **After being sure that Yang wouldn't move anymore, Dragunov panted as he brought his hand towards the hexagonal Crystal on his forehead. " _That was a close._ " Dragunov thought as he looked at the motionless blonde. "I didn't think she would even stunt like that." Even though it would take a lot more than that to destroy his Core, that didn't mean he wanted to take his chances, seeing as he actually felt threatened for an instant. But that aside, Dragunov felt like grinning as he walked towards the helpless blonde and no one was there to watch him this time. Even Nox was sleeping when he was certain that Dragunov was asleep too. To be fair, the dragin did sleep, but then he woke up and decided to take a walk. It was pure coincidence that he ended up at the gym to witness Yang whaling on a punching bag. " _I could easily crush her skull right now._ " Dragunov thought as he grabbed Yang's head. "...But I'm a man of my word." With that, Dragunov instead grabbed the black tank top and hoisted the unconscious blonde over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "No broken bones, the arm isn't dislocated, and not even bruised from my last attack- For now anyway." Dragunov listed as he groped Yang's body to find any serious damage he might've caused as he carried her off to her dorm. "This aura stuff is amazing, for her to take attacks from me and survive." She's either the ultimate revenger striker, or the ultimate masochist." Dragunov couldn't help joking, but he barely even chuckled, seeing as the this incident made it to the list of things he would have to apologize if he accepts her. "Maybe you are a jewel... One in the making anyway." Dragunov muttered to himself as he patted Yang's butt as a reward, seeing as he head wasn't accessible right now. Because for now, Yang had exceeded the dragon's expectations.**

Good news was that Yang is now accepted by the dragon and would receive an apology for some of the things he did and said. Only some of the things he did. As far as Yang knew that most likely didn't include calling her an 'ultimate masochist', groping her unconscious under the guised of a search for serious injury, and feeling her ass while carrying her caveman style. Far all Yang knew, this guy could have a fetish for unconscious girls and she rather not see or read about herself doing that if that is the case. She did have mixed feelings about the second one. Overall, it wasn't the best trade off for being accepted, at least right off the bat.

Yang still wanted to release her anger, maybe even actually deal seem damage to the place, if only a little.

As soon as she was ready to blow off some much need steam, she felt something strike her in the back of the head, knocking her out.

"Oh no, did I do it too hard?" Penny asked.

"Did you really have to do that?" Luck asked. "It would have been a lot better, probably healthier if she just let it out naturally." Luck knew for a fact he wasn't going to do something again.

"The material in this entire structure is strong but not indestructible. Plus her anger was at a somewhat unhealthy which got translated to her physical strength. I did want to risk damage unless the things here have suitable replacements."

"Unfortunately we don't have replacements and I don't exactly have the ability to create. The ability to fix things to a certain extent, maybe. Still, I have full confidence in the durability of this entire structure." Luck kneeled besides the knockout Yang and took a look at her head. "Ooohh, looks like you definitely left your mark." There was a lump at the back of the brawler's head.

"I only did a quick, non-lethal take down with a certain amount of force to minimize physical damage." Maybe it wasn't enough because of her mechanical body. Penny took a look at Yang's head. "At worst, she could have minor memory loss. I guess that acceptable." Penny lifted up Yang. "I'll take her upstairs. You can inform everyone that we're done."

"Alright then." Had the damage been more serious, then Luck would have to unlock more areas. He went into the other viewing room which was the cafeteria where he found everyone else. "We're done."

"It's quiet. Why can't I hear Yang rampaging when you opened the door?" Ruby asked the Blade.

"Oh, Penny knocked her out. By the way, Yang might need an ice pack." The Blade answered. "By the way, why didn't you two stay." Luck referred to the adults. "I'm pretty sure that you two can handle a problem child like her."

"That is true, but we believe it's better for her to let her rage out off her system since it seemed to be personal." Ozpin answered.

"Had this been on Beacon's school ground or had Glynda had been her then the situation would have been handled in a moment." Oobleck said.

* * *

It took time until the Alrest crew finally put an end to Malos. Doing so did cause the self destruct sequence of the World Tree. Pneuma, who was primarily known as Pyra, had a means to handle the situation, but the cost herself which affected her friends. Especially her Driver Rex.

Everyone except the Aegis made it to the escape pods. The initial lauch was fine but the ship broke apart after a short period of time. No one fell to their death because Azurda transformed into his Titan form and flew everyone safely from above the Land of Morytha and into the dark rift around it.

The World Tree survivors held the feeling of dread within them, thinking that I may have been too late for Alrest. However, that feeling a dread was put away for a moment once everyone saw the a clear blue sky a sea of and landmasses. All Titans that were gathered at the World Tree headed towards their own destinations in the new world. Of course, it wasn't just those Titans.

When going to the nearest landmass in the direction the assume to be south, the inactive Core Crystal take acted as Rex's replacement heart for sometime until his original heart was fully restored now regained its glow and resonated with Rex. It wasn't just Pyra or Mythra who were reawakened, but both were awakened from one Core as two separate beings. It could have been a bitter sweet reunion if it weren't for something both Pyra and Mythra said at a volume where only Rex and Poppi who were close enough to them were able to hear. That let those two know that the Aegis duo in front of them are the same one they journeyed with.

"Setting foot on new land. I sure everyone from Alrest will be in for a very new experience." Rex said as he jumped off of Azurda on the new land with everyone following him.

Azurda, who can now freely shift forms, transformed in to his small furry form. "Indeed, but I recommend that we all rest after our long journey."

"The old Titan is right. I just want to sleep now. Let's set up camp." Zeke said.

"Could you... wait a moment please." A voice spoke from above the Alrest crew. They looked up and were surprised at who they saw.

"Klaus!"

"Father!"

The did notice that he visible looked worse than when the previously met him. "I don't have much time, so I'll make this quick."


	13. Prologue 4-3

**It took time, but I finally got this chapter and all of the prologues done.**

 **Readers: ABOUT DAMN TIME!**

 **I'm gonna blame the fact that I've been working mid-shifts instead of closing shift cuz that dictates my personal schedule. Look for a new job though. Still waiting on the clerical position at a hospital and waiting for more info for working as a dispatcher. I know those will screw up my schedule more.**

 **If I knew the exact reason why I was requested to get this done by two specific dates, on of which I missed, then I may have done something extra and tried a bit harder to get this out earlier. Other than this chapter and not that extra something, I could give the people who asked for this chapter to be done a beatbox in Smash Bros if they are down to play me. As of March 26, Shulk is going to be one of the characters I main for the rest of the year cuz its the year of vision, 2020. Got to give him the Wolf treatment since I'm bad until I get good again.**

 **As usual, I don't exactly remember what I wrote in this and previous chapters. I go back often even if it screws me.**

 **Added Note: Spring cleaning almost made me miss my deadline today.**

* * *

Klaus had finished giving his message to the Alrest Crew. At the end of his message his body started to glow and dissapate as ether particles into the now merged world with new found ether. It was a slow, but steady process.

Klaus opened one last portal before he completely disappeared. "I used most of my remaining power to make your the space I created remains stable. With out causeing a break in the space, I can only send you to an acquaintence that you all are familiar with. Tell him to open up a path for the people who are already in my created space to a more convenient location for them." The majority of Klaus' body has dispersed as ether particles. He said one final word before he was gne completely. "Farewell."

The Alrestians took a moment of silence for the Architect. When they were done, Nia noticed something. "Hey, the portal is getting smaller." Indeed it was.

After their long journey they just need some time to relax which they could do regardless of what option they picked, one means meetting more people who can share knowledge of the world they merged with. The only possible drawback could be the reception they get, or rather everything related to Alrest. Their world was not just foreign, but alien to most of the new world.

"We'll leave the choice to you Rex, but it seems like you need to make a fast decision." Morag told Rex.

"We'll follow your choice." Pyra added which got got everyone in their immeadiate group to give Rex supporting nods. Except for one who is just following them as part of her duty for now until she got another mission.

Rex had no more than six seconds to make a decision. He figured that it would be nice to relax to read a what if story between this world and his world. There was a chance to how he could have done things differently in his doesn't regret anything that had happened given the end result.

"Let's go" Rex announced. The Alrest group all tried to go through the portal once REx made his decision, but only some of them managed to go through while the others were left behind. It was a metter of time, distance and speed.

"That's unfortunate, but this shouldn't be to bad.." Zeke said.

Winter opened her eyes and looked at her current surroundings. "What in the world? Where am I?" The current area she was in was unknown to her. She was in an area enclosed by by a sky rift. She was standing in a fairly large arena styled platform supported numerous columns.

"Can you get off me. Being stepped on isn't exaclt my perferred fetish." Winter heard a familiar voice from below her. She looked down and saw Qrow right below her feet. Had it not been for a particular word Qrow said then she would have remained standing on him and admire the scene for a moment longer. Part of her convinced herself that Qrow actually wanted his current situation to continue.

Winter got off Qrow who got up and dusted himself off. "Whatever happened must have sobered me up."

Winter gave Qrow an offside glance. "You would stumble across the strangest places while drunk."

"What's your excuse for being here." Qrow asked the Ice Queen.

Chances were that Qrow came here in a similar manner like her, but at a different area. She supposed she could give him just a little bit of information. Before she could say something an unknown voice was heard.

"What's going on R- oh" The unkown voice cut himself off once he realized something.

Winter and Qrow looked in the general direction of where the voice came from and saw two blonde young adults, male and female. They looked young enough to possibly be upperclassmen at any of the Huntsman Academies. That's assuming they even go to one given their visible weapons even though they are simple, one looking slightly more complicated at first glance.

"It seems we have some new faces." Another unknown voices to the unlucky druck and Atlesian specialist spoke from their right. She seemed like she could be a soldier or some sort of authority figure with her attire.

"Elma." The two blondes called out to the now named Elma.

"It's good to see you two again." Elma also noticed that Shulk got new clothes.

Qrow whistled in amazement once he saw the dark skinned woman. He liked what he was seeing. He'd be lying to himself by thinking that by appearence alone the dark skinned, silver haired woman wasn't at least on par or better than Winter by his standards.

Ignoring Qrow's reaction either because it wasn't appropiate for the situation or she didn't quite understand the reaction she asked the blondes a question. "Shulk, Fiora, do you know these people."

Fiora shook her head. "No, we've just met them."

"Even though we didn't do any introductions." Qrow said.

"Oh, right." Fiora said slightly embarressed. "I'm Fiora and this my... friend Shulk.

"Hello" Shulk greeted.

"As you have heard, I'm Elma."

"The name is Qrow." The drunk casually greeted.

"I'm Specialist Winter Schnee." Winter included her rank in her formal greeting.

"We both know that we are not here on any official business." Qrow said.

"I'd prefer to give a proper introduction." Winter said.

Elma looked at the general direction of the two new arrivals, more specifically at the two new portals behind them. Both were next to each other and in the general spot of the portal where Rex and his friends. Did they come from the same world? It's possible.

Suddenly, another portal formed and asome familiar faces came out of it. Only some.

"Did everyone managed to get through?" Rex asked his group. He got his answer when he turned around. "That's unfortunate." Only he, Pyra, Mythra, Poppi, Morag, Brighid, and T-elos.

"We were given a warning about the portal not being open for too long. It's not a complete surprise that only some of us got through." Morag said. "I'm sure our companions can manage by themselves."

"Poppi should have carried masterpon through portal." The artifical Blade said dejectedly.

"I'm sure the others can take care of themselves. Right now we have a gathering to deal with." Brighid said refer to their other worldy friends and two new arrivals.

"Hopefully all the important people are here. Now can we get to business because we have no idea what the hell is going on?" It's a shame that Qrow was somehow no longer drunk because this situation would not be bothering him as much if at all.

It's rare, as in never happens, that Winter would be agreeing with Qrow. This is only happening because of their current situation.

"Your request shall be granted." Another unknown voice to the Remnans said which caused them to look around.

"Ah, Archsage. Nice timing. We need to talk."Rex said. The Remnans followed the gaze of the kid known as Rex down to a strange being.

"... A talking potato." Winter and Qrow said at the strange sight. Were there any side effects when they got transported?

"How rude. Why is it that a majority of creators and viewers have to make that comparison? It's old." Elma... could sort of understand, but was ultimately in the same position as everyone else when the Archsage said that.

"How about a furry plushie?" Qrow asked.

The Archsage gave a deadpan stare at the unlucky Huntsman. "You really want to do this?"

Qrow raised his hands as a sign that he won't say anything more.

"Anyways, we have more important matters. Rex, can you wait on whatever you wanted to say?" The Archsage asked.

Rex nodded.

Now was the time to get everyone in this caught up on what was happening.

* * *

Yang walked down stairs from the barracks holding an ice pack behind her head which was hurting from when she woke up. She was noticed by her sister sitting with the rest of the group in the main viewing area.

Ruby ran towards her sister. "Yang are you okay?"

"Mostly." The blonnde brawler said though the pain.

"Maybe you should skip out on reading. You still need to recover. Also, Penny said that she is sorry." Behind Ruby, Yang can see Penny waving with an awkward smile.

"Sure." Ruby escorted Yang to the seating area. She didn't feel like reading.

Luck got up to address everyone. "I have an announcement." He gained everyone's attention. His body started to shine. "From now on, you will be fine without me being here, so...bye." His body quickly faded away into ether particles. All that was left was a familiar Core Crystal Klaus used, except now it doesn't have it's normal blue glow. It was a dark gray Core now.

Nora started to overreact as she believed that she may be stuck here for a long period of time. She jumped at the inactive Core Crystal and shook it like crazy. "You can't just leave us here now! We become Huntsman and Huntresses, I can't break the legs of all our enemies, and we'll eventually starve to death while dying of boredom." Then Nora felt a calming sensation overcoming her. "Ren, let me freak out in piece." She complained in a calm matter due to Ren's semblance.

Ren, who used his semblance via his foot on the floor, had a straight face with his simple response. "No."

Ozpin got up and approached Nora. "There is no need to panic Ms. Valkyrie. Mr. Luck made it sound as if something was prepared for us so we can return home. Although, I am surprised his sudden announcement would be like this."

"It's a bit shocking that he reverted back to the Core Crystal Klaus used. It's ineresting to see in person how a Blade reverts back a pre-awakened state. I assume that that lack of a blue glow means the Crystal is inactive. how long it takes for the Crystal to regain its glow is unknown. The fact that luck reverted back to a Crystal means... that Klaus passed away." Oobleck said. With what was learned so far from the story, this was the most logical conclusion.

They barely knew Klaus since they only meet once and whatever little information Luck was willing to give. However, he made a very big impression which lead to the entire purpose of being here viewing an alternate reality. They decided to have a moment of silence for the late Klaus.

"For the time being, we can only read further while we wait for our secure way home."Ozpin said as he and Nora toook their seats. "Are you about to continue reading Ms. Xaio Long?" The headmaster asked his still pained student.

"Someone else can read."

"Very well." Ozpin cleared his throat for his storytime voice.

 **Resolutions and Mysteries**

The Beacon students thought that made Ozpin seem like an old man. Despite being the youngest headmaster in Beacon's history, he was actually a very old man. Ancient even, but they don't know that.

 **It has been a few days since Dragunov snuck Yang back into her dorm. Surprisingly, the blonde bomb-shell was only mildly sore from her bout with Dragunov that morning. But that's not the only problem right now. The problem is Yang couldn't bring herself to tell her team about the incident. Because of that, she just pretended that the incident never happened. Or she would be if she hadn't spent the last few days training. Trying to reach Dragunov and make him eat his words. Unfortunately, she knew that there was no way for her to do that before the dead line tomorrow. And the bastard proved himself strong enough to take her whole team and two professors.**

 **" _What am I going to do_?" Yang thought as she hadn't felt this helpless since the day she almost got Ruby killed. The only real way to stop Dragunov was apparently her own death... but she didn't want to die. Because if she did... who would look after Ruby? And their dad already suffered one wife dumping him and another dying... Yang wasn't sure how he could handle losing either her or Ruby.**

That is a moment that Yang never forget. Ruby barely remembers that event since she slept through most of it at the time, but remembers nonetheless. She forgave Yang, but Yang couldn't forgive herself.

Seeing has how this is a personal matter for Ruby and Yang, everyone else decided to leave them alone.

 **"Yang, is something wrong?" Ruby asked in worry.**

 **The gang was sitting in the cafeteria having lunch with their Blades. Including Dragunov who was sitting a few seats away from them. And it seemed like the other students were avoiding him. Because yesterday, there was an incident where Dragunov attacked a student. According to the student in question, the crazy beast attacked him for no reason. And it seemed like neither the headmaster of the professors are doing anything about him.**

Chances were that the unnamed student actually did some to piss off Dragunov and is pretending to be an innocent victim. The professors and headmaster aren't getting involved because they currently don't have any suitable way to handle Dragunov.

 **"N-no, I'm fine." Yang said unconvincingly as she hadn't touched her food.**

 **"You don't look fine." Weiss said with a suspicious look. "Did that monster do something to you?"**

 **"What!? No... at least... not since I awakened him." Yang said trying to sound confident. All the while Dragunov was watching the exchange with what looked like disappointment.**

 **"...Yang." Jaune spoke up, with surprising seriousness. "You sound like me when Cardin had me on a leash."**

It's similar, but not he same. Jaune thought Yang's personal affairs were actually greater than his with this bit of information. What are fake transcripts to live a dream and not being able to live up to a family legacy compared to the live of family members.

It's possible to live with ruined dreams like how its possible to live with loved ones who are no longer around, but the difference was that Yang could have been responsible for an early family death.

 **That made Yang flinch... "Th-thats different." Yang protested. Unfortunately, the currently distressed blonde didn't realized that she had confirmed everyone's suspicions.**

 **"What did he do to you?" Blake asked, with Nox having a shocked look in his eye.**

 **" I thought I only slipped once." Nox showed on his scroll having been surprised by Dragunov's stunt as much as the rest of them. "I have failed my lady again."**

 **However, no one paid attention to the dark ninja as they were more concerned about their friend.**

"...He's not important." Yang commented.

 **"Yang..." Pyrrha spoke up in worry. "If he... did anything then we must inform the headmaster."**

 **"Lets break his legs." Nora said while glaring at the target who's name was on Magnhild right now.**

Nora raised her hand "I'm in favor." She looks around and sees that no one is will to support the action. "Your all no fun." Nora pouted.

"It wouldn't work." everyone said.

"It me me feel better."

 **"Nora, remember how you tried that." Ren pointed out. Two days ago Ruby let it slip how Dragunov attacked them after he was awakened. Nora had taken out Magnhild and hunted the dragon down so she could bring down the hammer on his head. Only, Dragunov caught the hammer by the head and threw it out the window... with Nora still attached to it.**

 **"He got lucky." Nora argued back. "But I still got a grenade in his face." The hyperactive girl said with a large grin.**

 **"And the only thing it did was make him fall over and look surprised." Pyrrha pointed out, feeling very lucky that the monster didn't go on a rampage back then. Because even the Mistral champion wasn't sure if she could beat him in a fight when the dagonic Blade shrugs off a grenade like its a mild nuisance.**

"I can always try again and again." Nora turned her attention to Pyrrha. "Don't worry, I'll build up your strength with my training program so you can crush that huge fire lizard."

Having already experience Nora's training program at some point before attending Beacon Ren shook his head to signal Pyrrha to decline.

Pyrrha doesn't think the training would be that bad and is still willing to do it either because she is a 'yes' person or just too nice. She was about to agree until she heard too other people tell her not to just by their own suspicions of Nora's training even if they haven't done it yet.

"I'm trusting Ren. Say no." Jaune said.

"Say no to the brute." Weiss reinforced.

"...I'd have to decline, but thank you for the offer." Pyrrha replied to the hyperactive ginger by the suggestion of her friends.

"Next time then." Nora said. "Next time." She muttered.

 **"We need a water Blade if we are to truly stop him." Dahlia reminded everyone. Her ice does turn into water when it melts, but that only seemed to cause him mild discomfort.**

Oobleck thought the most basic level of science should take should be be in effect here. Water in its liquid state does cover a wide area and can easily clear out fire. Encasing a fire Blade like Dragunov in ice could have had a similar weakness policy when solid or when melting. Unfortunately, Blade weakness don't seem to work like that.

 **"Why isn't Ozpin letting us get one then?" Ruby asked with worry. If a water Blade is the only thing that can stop Dragunov. then why haven't they gotten one yet?**

 **Weiss let out a sigh at Ruby's ignorance. "Probably because the next Blade might also go berserk."**

 **"...Oh." Ruby said.**

 **"...Guys... what if we all just got lucky with getting a Blade that doesn't go berserk?" Blake asked in concern.**

 **That caused various scary thoughts for everyone. What of Dragunov's case is normal with Blades while Roze and the others were the weird ones?**

"That is a bit concerning. Depending on how you view Nox, our success rate of awakening non-berserk Blades are either two out of four or three out out four." Ozpin said. "Awakening a potentially berserk Blade is either 50% or Dragunov is the odd one out with how unique Blades can be."

Hopefully the later was true, but that did cause everyone to keep an eye on Nox. If the dark Blade could react violently to something or someone that 'startled' him, or react in a similar manner to hostile intent or offending acts against his Driver, then it proves the former correct over the later. There may even be some restrictions being added for Blade distribution and awakening Blades.

When Ozpin thought about that he suspected that might be done in the kingdom of Atlas and enforced by Ironwood. For the other Kingdoms it might depend on their respective councils.

 **"That can't be true." Roze said resolutely. "Once, is things happen. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern."**

 **"It's true." Dahlia said as she stroked Weiss' back comfortingly. "While I don't have anything to support that claim, I know that Dragunov is the odd one, not us."**

Putting aside the thought of having her back stoked, Weiss wants to believe that Blades were right. She still does have her doubts about Nox.

 **That's great and all." Yang said, not really caring about that right now. "But how am I supposed to accept someone who thinks that my chest is all there is to me?"**

 **"...He said WHAT!?" Weiss screeched in righteous indignation before shooting an icy glare at the fire Blade, who either didn't notice or care.**

"Hnnngh, not what I needed to hear." Yang commented as she felt the pain in the back of her head react to the other voice of Weiss.

 **"Weiss, calm down. Shouting isn't going to help right now." Dahlia told Weiss, even though she can understand why the heiress got angry. Besides, she didn't want to make a scene right now where other student could get involved.**

 **Though Weiss wasn't the only one who got angry. "...I hate to say this, but he sounds like Cardin, except he has something to back up his arrogance." Pyrrha commented with a glare at the Blade that now sounded like the bully that is now in jail.**

"Probably the only time where we could see some version of Cardin that is competent, but at the same time if feels like an injustice to the Blade." Jaune said. "I'm actually curious how his experience in jail is."

"Cardin doesn't seem like the guy to be part of a scared straight program. If he is lucky he would survive while avoiding the booty warrior." Nora said. The second part earned him some curious looks.

"She is referencing an animated show she watched just so she could be a bit more like a 'gangster' along side some actual gangster movies. It's just entertainment she likes. Partly realistic, but mostly fictional." Ren explained.

It's probably better for the students to believe that Nora said is only related to the show. Ozpin, Oobleck, and Penny are not going to tell them that the bit about the booty warrior is more than what it seems. That man is still locked up in Vale's prison.

 **I'm gonna need a lot of electricity to take him down." Nora said, alredy planning to find a power cable to chew on.**

No one would condone that action since it would kill anyone else else that wasn't Nora. It may short circuit Penny had she not had any form of protection from an external or internal source.

 **Ruby... she just hugged her sister. "How can he be so mean?" Ruby questioned, not wanting to think of the possibility of losing her sister.**

 **...I don't know Ruby." Yang said as she hugged back. "Why does he find it so offensive that I'm a girl."**

 **As the conversation moved on, Dragunov had been listening in as best as he could. Shaking his head as he heard the last one. So far, the girl had proven herself in two out of three categories he wants in a Driver, Strength and Will. But the third one... he still hasn't been able to have a grasp on that one." _I need to see her in action. One more time._ " The dragonic Blade thought as he devoured a steak he had gotten for himself. " _This meat is good._ " Dragunov thought as he let the taste swim in his mouth before swallowing. " _Compliments to the chef._ " At least the food was good, but these brats have been failing in two out of three categories. Well he says, two, but the third category can't bee seen like the other two. His personal categories aside, Dragunov saw that the male Blades were very dedicated to their Drivers, but the female one seemed to be coddling her Driver. However, one thing was for certain about the busty Blade in Dragunov's mind. " _She's definitely a gem._ " Although he wasn't sure what kind... a diamond? No, it didn't feel appropriate... Maybe sapphire? The color would compliment her at least.**

"Why can't you just be satisfied with just two out of three." Yang complained. While knows that she now has made progress by Dragunov's standards. Two out of three should be good enough to pass, but thats not the case here. Just what could that third category be that makes it just as important if not more important than the other categories?

* * *

 **As team RWBY and JNPR talked about how to deal with Dragunov, Ozpin had gotten a guest in his office. "I'm glad you can make it Qrow." Ozpin said.**

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said in excitement.

 **However, judging by the look on his face, Qrow wasn't here for pleasantries. "Cut the small talk Oz, what's going on with my nieces?" Honestly, the guy hurried over as sson as he heard that his niece was in trouble.**

 **Ozpin sighed as he knew that Qrow would not be happy about what he was going to tell him. "...Have you heard about the Blades yet?" Ozpin asked, earning a raised eyebrow from the scythe master. Qrow had been out in the wilds for a while now, so it wouldn't be so surprising for him to not have heard yet.**

Yang and Ruby knew that it was kinda difficult to call Qrow 70% of the time because he is unable to answer for one reason or another. I could be different with other people like Ozpin calling him.

It hasn't even gotten to the point where Blades are well known to the public yet.

 **"The Blades? What's that, some new organization?" The man asked, wondering what this is about.**

 **No..." Ozpin said as he pulled images of Roze, Dahlia, and Nox. "These, are... beings that call themselves Blades."**

 **Qrow was staring at the images of these individuals, finding it very disturbing that one of them looked like a black haired male version of Ruby. Though he couldn't help but also focus on Dahlia and her... assets. "They look interesting, but what's so special about them?" Qrow asked, appreciating Dahlia's curves as he did.**

One valid concern followed by a perverse stare at the busty Blade actually sounds like something Qrow would do.

"I already don't want to meet your uncle." Weiss said.

"He didn't exactly give the worst first impression I've seen." Pyrrha said as she recalled meeting a few of her more hardcore fans at a time she was presented a new opportunity involving modeling which she respectively declined. They probably heard about the modeling gig.

"Why does he always he always do this." Yang facepalmed. From most of the adventures Qrow told his neices he included some form of his perversion. He says that he was partially intoxicated, but she believed that he used that as a excuse and might have been sober. That was only true for the minority of Qrow's tales.

Ozpin just had to learn to accept since Qrow's time as an upperclassmen at Beacon. That didn't mean that the headmaster didn't anything about it when the matter was brought up to him.

 **"Watch this." Ozpin responded as he showed footage of all three fights that happened in the arena that involved the Blades and their Drivers.**

 **...Okay... is this why you called me here?" Qrow asked, having a hard look at the Blade that looked like a male version of Ruby getting a little too cozy with his favorite pipsqueak. He would need a serious conversation with this guy... if Yang hadn't done that already.**

Had it been the specific words of 'favorite niece', Yang would have said something.

Ruby had a very basic understanding of what Qrow was feeling. It was similar to how her dad would feel about this. Yang's opinion was already known. Unlike Qrow, her dad can be overbearing concern her and Yang's interaction with boys even though she doesn't think of guys like that.

It should be a bit different with Roze because he is a living weapon... right? After all, see likes weapons.

...Could she maintain that view of Roze? Only see him as unique weapon that she can do plenty of things with.

 **"Unfortunately no." Ozpin said as he pulled the image of Dragunov. "Few days ago, miss Xiao Long awakened this Blade called Dragunov. But... he didn't accept her as her Driver."**

 **Now Qrow's eyes narrowed at the hesitation on this bizarre guy "not accepting" Yang. "Oz... what do you mean by that?" The scythe master asked, ready to tear the stony freak a new one if he didn't like the answer.**

"If only you could." Yang doubted.

 **"...He attacked her." Ozpin said, deciding not to mince words.**

 **As expected, Qrow didn't like what he heard, evidenced when he slammed Ozpin's desk. "Is Yang alright!? And where is that bastard now!?"**

 **"Qrow calm down." Ozpin said in a commanding tone.**

 **"Your telling me to calm down, when my niece was attacked by this freakshow!?" Qrow all but demanded. "I'll calm down when I get to teach him what happens when you mess with family!"**

 **Ozpin got up with a hard look. "Tell me Qrow... how do you plan to kill someone who can't be slain?"**

 **"Oz, what're you-" "As far as I know, the only way to truly stop a Blade is to make them revert to a Crystal, and that supposedly only happens when their Driver dies." Ozpin finished with a grave look.**

 **Qrow look flabbergasted. That speech had so many things that didn't make sense to the usually drunk man. However, there was one part of it he caught, the only part that mattered to him. "What're you saying? Are you telling me we should kill my niece?" Qrow had been loyal to Ozpin for years now, but if the headmaster dares to tell the man to kill his own niece, heads will roll.**

No on knew what to say. Being told to kill one of your family members for what ever reason is messed up even when justified.

Hearing that Qrow might have to follow it is more than just a case of bad luck. What makes the fact worse is that Blades don't die. Not unless they knew of a specific circumstances on how they could die which they are completely unaware of.

One part did strike something within Ozpin. 'How can you kill someone who can't be slain?' The headmaster repeated in his head. Then he connected it to his situation with Salem. It was similar enough. While he didn't initially try to ages ago, he did try to kill Salem. One attempt when it clearly looked like he was successful, he failed and was killed. The time he sought out Jin's knowledge was the event that set in the fact that Salem can't be killed. He knows this, but leads on the idea thats she can be dealt with or even killed within his inner circle.

Yes, he knows that he was and still is hypocritical within his own group.

 **"I am not." Ozpin said, knowing full well that he could never convince Qrow to do that, even if he wanted to. "But I do have a plan that should allow us to seal him away." The headmaster explained, before sitting back down. "So if you would sit down and listen, we could begin discussing on why I need your help to do that." Honestly, Ozpin hoped that Yang would be able to convince Dragunov to accept her. but judging by the incident in both his awakening and the gym, it wouldn't happen. While Ozpin did acknowledge that the dragon didn't kill Yang when he had the chance, the headmaster couldn't bring himself to risk the safety of his student any longer. Which is why he devised a plan to seal Dragunov away forever, hopefully.**

 **"...I'm listening." Qrow said as he finally sat down.**

Ozpin can feel the bit of uncertainty himself from what he read. He doesn't want to see any one of his students killed. Having a plan is good, but this is a first case of a Blade attempting to kill their Driver in all of Remnant. The potential results of the plan his other claims to have are unknown, but it will set a foot hold for any future cases to come.

Of course, the best way for this matter to be resolved is for Dragunov to accept his Driver. Everyone already got the progress report from Dragunov.

* * *

 **Some time later team RWBY, along with their Blades, find themselves in the forest of Forever Fall. True to it's name, the leaves in the trees of this forest are always red, like it was always a fall. Apparently Professor Peach needed some red sap again, only small enough quantity for one student team to get. Which is why team RWBY was here gathering the sap into the jars.**

 **"We're lucky Nora isn't here." Blake said as she closed her jar. "Otherwise these trees would be drained completely."**

 **"True that." Yang said, smiling a little. Honestly, she was still worried about how she's going to stop Dragunov from killing her, otherwise she would have cracked a joke by now.**

"The sap was tasty." Nora commented. She didn't care if she was the one that made it a bit more difficult to collect the sap.

By far, it the easiest task the Beacon students had. The quality of the the sap was evaluated. With the exception of Cardin's team, this was an easy B grade at minimum.

 **Weiss looked uncharacteristically worried about Yang. Their loveable oaf had come clean about the night Dragunov gave her a beating. After he understandable fury they felt towards the dragonic Blade, they were questioning why he didn't kill Yang when he had the chance. That's not even counting that the guy simply doesn't make sense with half of his claims. Because the students Dragunov attacked... was harassing Velvet in a secluded hallway at the time. How did they find out about it? Simple, Velvet came to thank Dragunov for getting the guy off of her. The rabbit faunus even apologized for not speaking up about what really happened. Strangely, Dragunov simply dismissed the apology by saying. "Doesn't matter, just remember what I said." What he "said" was something the dragon or the rabbit faunus refused to tell the team.**

"It doesn't make sense. Why would Dragunov help Velvet after everything he said and did?" Blake was confused. Why would the dragonic Blade show an act of kindness to anyone, especially a faunus. It contradicts his actions since his awakening.

Aside from the act of bullying, Ozpin and Oobleck were trying to take something from Dragunov's act of kindness. They thought about the qualities that Dragunov was looking for in a Driver. Perhaps related to the third category alongside strength and will.

 **Back to the matter at hand, Glynda and Oobleck, with Adenine, were overseeing the student's operation. The part of the forest they came into was pretty secluded, and they had heard reports about a decrease in Grimm activity around these parts. Which was what allowed them to set up the operation: "Dragon Slayer".**

Depending on the circumstances, decreased Grimm activity can either be natural or unnatural. The opposite doesn't exactly follow suit. The reason behind this is taught in Grimm Studies... or at least would be had Port not told a stories of his past experiences. Not many students immediately picked up on the lesson.

At least with Oobleck students could learn something despite the speed of Oobleck's lectures.

 **"...Barty." Adenine spoke up with a curious look.**

 **"What is it, Adenine?" Oobleck asked his Blade that seemed to have had something on her mind ever since they came here.**

 **"...I sense ether." Adenine said as she felt herself drawing upon the same energy.**

 **That got both teacher's attention. "How can that be? You said that there is no ether in Remnant." Oobleck said, not sure what this could mean.**

 **"I didn't sense any." Adenine corrected. "But now... it's faint, but there is definitely ether the atmosphere."**

"How exactly is Alrest's primary energy even entering Remnant?" Oobleck wondered. Blades are one thing, but energy is another. Neither one is native to Remnant so they must have crossed over in a similar fashion, but how?

 **Glynda raised an eyebrow at this. She was informed about anything Adenine and the other Blades informed them, but she still wasn't sure she could wrap her head around it. "Is this dangerous?" The Goodwitch asked as she eyed the students who were collecting the sap.**

 **Adenine chuckled at the concern. "No. Actually, this is wonderful."**

 **"And why is that?" Oobleck asked in curiosity.**

 **"Because the lack of ether in the atmosphere I and the others have been reliant on Dust to maintain our energy. But with ether here, we can simply draw on that instead of eating Dust." Adenine said before looking thoughtful. "Although... I wonder why there is ether here when I haven't felt any for a long time."**

"So that's why Roze ate my Dust. He needed energy to function and the same would be said with the other Blades." Weiss is now a little bit more forgiving about Roze's action in the past. "Although we didn't get a more suitable explanation from him. I just wish we knew earler and that he asked." The heiress did feel irritated about getting this information late.

 **That made Oobleck wonder. "If ether is energy native to Alrest and you can feel it here... Is it possible that the hole that brought you and the other Core Crystals here brought some ether as well?"**

 **Adenine brought her hand to her chin in a thinking pose. "...Most likely. I do remember there being a small amount of ether where you awakened me. But I had already drawn it all before I even realized it."**

 **Oobleck adopted the same thinking pose. "...Well... the hole that the Crystals came from was pretty small and it wasn't open for long. So maybe the quantity of ether was also small."**

 **Now Glynda raised an eyebrow as something occurred to her. "Adenine, how long have you been sensing ether?" Glynda asked as a hypothesis came to her.**

 **Since our arrival. why?" Adenine replied with a head tilt.**

That meant one thing to everyone. They were going to see an active gateway or breach between Alrest and Remnant.

 **"...And you have been drawing upon it since?" Glynda asked. "Can the other Blades draw upon it as well?"**

 **"Of course they can. In fact, they've probably been doing that too since our arrival." Adenine said while motioning towards the other Blades who weren't really doing anything except looking around. But then again, Adenine wasn't doing anything special either.**

"Perhaps drawing upon ether is like a natrual instinct or voluntary function for Blades." Oobleck hypothesis.

"Couldn't be a bit more dramatic? Something like this, "Gaia, lend me your strength."" Nora had her hand reaching upward and brought it close to her chest as if she was being granted power.

 **"So that means, there is enough ether for five Blades to draw upon, without it having run out already." Glynda asked, feeling worried despite not knowing why.**

 **"Glynda, what're you- Wait! If the hole that brought Core Crystals here brought enough ether for one Blade to draw upon for a short time... then what kind of hole brought enough for five to draw upon for an extended period of time." Oobleck motored-mouthed, worry setting in even though he wasn't sure why either.**

"We can assume that there won't be a great amount of Core Crystals coming from this breach. Perhaps someting big is coming. Whether it's living or nonliving is unknown." Ozpin said.

 **"Probably multiple holes around this area, or a very large one." Adenine said with out a care in the world. "Although there's no telling what else could've come through in either case."**

 **And that was what made everything click in the two teacher's heads. Large enough quantity of ether for five Blades in one place, where there is supposed to be none. A single small hole can only bring up enough ether for one Blade to draw upon for a short time. The possibility of multiple holes or a very large hole being the possibilities that bring forth enough ether for five Blades for an extended amount of time. Finally... the drop of Grimm activity in the area. Conclusion: Something from Alrest was brought here. Something that is likely responsible for said drop in Grimm activity.**

Ozpin may be right. What could be coming?

 **"...We must abort the mission." Glynda said as she now feared what could kill so many Grimm in an area in a short amount of time.**

 ***CREAK* Only to hear a sound of a tree being broken, followed by the said tree falling to the ground in a very loud thump.**

 **This of course, earned the attention of the students and the Blades.**

 **"What was that?" Ruby Wondered as she stared into the direction the noise came from. Several trees were shaking or straining, due to whatever was moving past them.**

 **Nox acted fast and jumped into one of the trees they were extracting sap from to get a vantage point.**

 **Blake realized what her Blade was planning. "What do you see up there!?" Unfortunately she forgot that Nox doesn't talk, so he can't answer right now.**

"Talk about inconvenient." Jaune commented

It was highly likely that Nox was a mute, but there was the very low chance that his voice existed and had something odd about it. Blake was sure of that.

 **Not that she had time to realize it because Nox came back down quickly and opened his scroll for Blake. " An arachno. Big one."**

 **"What's an arachno?" Blake asked, right before being grabbed by Nox and moved away from a falling tree.**

 **"WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?" Weiss Screamed in disgust and horror, she always found those hairy vermin repulsive.**

 **"A GIANT SPIDER!" Ruby screamed with her partner. The poor girl accidentally saw a document about a spider large enough to eat small birds when she was little. Because of that, Ruby couldn't sleep for a month without crying for Yang or her dad to not let the evil spiders eat her.**

 **Except, spiders have eight legs, and this one had four. Spider body is hairy, this thing was covered in an armored carapace with spikes on it's abdomens. Yes, abdomens, because it had two of them. Then, right above the maw with enourmous fangs was what looked like leaf-shaped feelers with glowing red veins.**

 **Even Blake looked squeamish at this giant monstrosity that was bigger than the Death Stalker Grimm team JNPR took down.**

"THAT'S ALREST'S VERSION OF SPIDERS!?" Weiss screamed when she saw the creature.

"I though spiders weren't that bad, but this... this is actually something to act as nightmare fuel." Jaune said while he was freaked out.

Jaune was right about this being nightmare fuel... for Ruby that is. While this was mostly put behind her, the fear of spiders resurfaced with this unknown spider. A spider that could actually be a man eater. She put on her hood, held her legs close to her body, and wrapped the lower part of her hood around her looking like a shaking red cocoon.

Yang had to do something to calm her down. She stroked the wrapped up sister. "It's okay. That spider isn't going to do anything to you. All it has is a different look and size. Just imagine it as a Grimm. It's probably not as bad as the Death Stalker and Nevermore we saw during initiation. Now to mention your somewhat of a big girl and you can kill thing with your weapon."

At least Ruby stopped shaking. She even moved her head just enough so she could see the screen.

"I could easily squash it with Magnhild." Nor boasted.

Oobleck and Penny were going to record what ever happens with this creature.

(Play XC2: "Monster Surprised You)

 **"Well, this could be a problem." Dahlia said, sounding concern instead of afraid. She was probably the only female here that didn't have any level of arachnophobia, excluding Glynda.**

 **"Right." Roze said as he prepared himself for battle.**

"I would be surprised if this started that fear." Pyrrha said agreeing with Jaune's previous statement. This can be nightmare fuel for arachnophobia.

"Hey, Professor Ozpin." Nora called the headmaster. "Does Professor Goodwitch have any type of fear?"

"Not in particular, but I have seen her have a few bad experiences with cats. How those went I will leave to your imagination."

 **"Students! Abort the mission! We must retreat to the bullheads." Glynda shouted. This thing was most likely responsible for the lack of Grimm in the area. And considering it's appearance, it's probably stronger than a giant Death Stalker. And this creature is a product of nature, not darkness, so who knows what kind of natural defenses it has.**

 **"We cannot." Dragunov spoke up surprising everyone. "This thing is hungry. So it won't stop until it has made all of us his meal." Then the draginic Blade gave the combat teacher a withering look. "And even if we do escape and leave this thing alone now, not only will it eat all the animals here, but once it runs out of food here... What do you think it will do?"**

 **Blake's eyes widened at that. If that thing is as voracoious as Dragunov makes it out to be, then it will probably eat all life it finds in Forever Fall. Or if it didn't find suitable prey, then it will leave this forest to find food... And what if it ends up in a village with people in it? "...He's right." Blake said, hating the fact she had to agree with the Blade that assaulted Yang. "We need to take it down right now." With that declaration, Blake drew out Gambol Shroud while Nox summoned his Dual Scythes.**

"Looks like a fight is necessary." Ren turned to Ruby. "Ruby, I'm gonna tell you something I've heard once at some point. 'One way to get over your fears is to kill your fears.' It doesn't hold up all the time, but it works." Ren started to think. "I think it belongs to the philosophy of 'kill the past'." If only Ren could follow that to resolve a personal issue.

Maybe this could help Ruby and anyone else who had some level of arachnophobia.

 **"Run away and risk villages being wiped out," Weiss said as she drew her weapon, "or fight and save lives before this thing threatens them." The option she chose looked obvious considering she took her fighting stance with Myrtenaster.**

 **"Y-yeah." Ruby added in, taking out rebuilt Crescent Rose.**

"My baby!" Ruby called out and now exiting out of her hood cocoon.

 **"...I still don't understand why you need that thing when you have me." Roze couldn't help asking... again.**

"Someone's a bit jealous." Nora commented.

 **"Shut up and fight." Yang shouted as she used her shotgun gauntlets to propel herself at the oversized bug. Managing to leap over a leg that tried to stomp her before delivering a punch into it's back. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to anything to it. "What?"**

"Arachnid, not just and bug or insect." Oobleck felt the need to voice a correction. "It may have superior natural armor compared to the bone carapaces that Grimm have."

 **As the arachno shrugged off Yang's attack, it looked around the huntresses in training to choose which one to eat first. Deciding on Weiss, the enormous bug charged at her, even as Blake was shooting at it with Gambol's pistol form. It was like the thing didn't even notice the dust shots hitting against it's carapace, but it certainly felt annoyed at the dust shots that Weiss was using against it. But then it reeled back a little from Dahlia's bitball. Followed by Nox slicing at it's underbelly as he ran beneath it.**

"Why me first?" Weiss lamented.

"Because you annoyed it the most out of everyone in your team and you do make for a nice appetizer. Blake is the side dish while Yang is the main course, and Ruby is the desert." Nora explained the arachno's four-course meal which was disturbing for team RWBY. "Oh wait, I forgot the professors."

"I believe you should stop there Ms. Valkyrie." Oobleck sternly said.

"Mmm, okay." Nora complied.

 **Ruby used her semblance to dash above the arachno to shoot at it's back, but just like Yang's punch and Blake's pistol, sniper shots didn't do anything. Or at least, that's what it looked like.**

"Why am I not using my armor piercing rounds!? Ruby shouted. Surely AP rounds along with dust could do something right?

 **"Why aren't our attacks working?" Weiss complained as she had used a glyph to create distance.**

 **"Like I would know." Yang repeated loudly as she fired couple shots at the arachno's abdomen. That seemed to get the arachno's attention, seeing as it used it's back leg to kick Yang away from it.**

"There's a text mistake here like in some other spots in everything we've read. You figure Klaus would have proof read and edit this entire story before giving it to us." Penny said.

 **"Yang." Ruby cried out as the bug decided to turn and eat Yang.**

 **Only to get hit by Oobleck, who had equipped Adenine's Blade weapon. "Students, it looks like Blade weapons are more effective than huntsman weapons." It was amazing how the doctor was able to maneuver past an insectoid leg that was trying to stomp him while explaining.**

"It's been a while since I last saw you in action Bart." Ozpin said.

"It's been... approximately two years and four months." The doctor answered. He then brought his attention to the effectiveness of Blade weapons. It only makes sense that Blades weapons should be effective against this creature since they share the same origin world. Maybe even some normal weapons in Alrest have some level of effectiveness against their monsters too. Assuming that normal weapons in Alrest could be more effective than ours against Alrest's native wildlife, then the only difference might be ether. and the closest thing we got that is similar to ether is our Dust, but it doesn't seem too effective. There is a big difference between ether and Dust." Oobleck rambled like an engine.

Jaune, Ruby, and Nora failed to keep up with Oobleck's speech speed before the halfway point. Yang didn't bother because of her head pain.

 **That's when Glynda used her semblance to bind the arachno's legs. Sure she didn't like the fact that the students had listened to Dragunov, but now that it's come to this, there was no point in arguing. Besides, they would deal with him once this is over. "I have sealed it's movement, take it down!" Glynda shouted out.**

 **With that, every huntress switched to their Blades, except Yang who Dragunov still refused to accept. Speaking of which, the fire Blade was just standing and watching this amusing entertainment. " _I have to admit, these girls are doing decently as Drivers._ " Dragunov though as the arachno fired a web at Glynda, who was forced to dodge it, breaking her hold over their quarry's legs.**

"You could help us instead of standing around watching us." Weiss complained about the Blade.

 **With that, the insectoid used it's legs to actually jump into the air.**

 **"THE HECK!?" Weiss cried out as the ugly thing fell down, causing a shockwave that threw all the Drivers and one huntress away.**

"At least it didn't start flying and swinging." Nora commented.

 **Except, one of it's legs managed to pin Ruby down... painfully.**

"RUBY." Yang cried out.

"IT'S GONNA EAT ME!" Ruby freaked out.

 **"RUBY!" Yang and Roze cried out in unison as Ruby screamed in pain despite her aura taking the worst of it.**

"That must have been critical damage." Penny said.

 **"LEAVE HER ALONE!" With a roar, Yang's semblance activated and she dashed at the arachno that had Ruby pinned down. All the while Roze dashed to pick up the Blade weapon Ruby had dropped when she was pinned.**

 **Unfortunately for Yang, the arachno maneuvered itself in a way that allowed it to clamp it's fangs on her. The blondes aura held on, but as long as the arachno felt like trying, Yang wouldn't get free.**

 **"Get off!" Roze shouted as he used his scythe to slash at the base of the leg that was pinning Ruby down while also worrying about Yang. The poor blonde hadn't charged her semblance enough to even try to overpower the giant fangs.**

 **"Dammit!" Blake exclaimed as she used Nox's weapons to strike at the arachno's side. Thankfully Blake's and Roze's combined efforts forced it to step off Ruby, but not to let go of Yang.**

 **Weiss used a Healing Circle to bolster Yang's waning aura, but it would only be a matter of time before those fangs would break through.**

 **"Darn it!" Glynda exclaimed as she tried to pry the jaws open with telekinesis. But the stubborn thing refused to even loosen.**

Not tension was released even when Ruby was freed. Now Yang is in another rocky situation. Sure, this one could bring a solution to the first problem, but it means she dies and she doesn't want to die.

 **"Is this how I die?" Yang thought as she tried to move her arms that the thing managed to pin under it's fangs against her body., but it was useless. "NO! I can't let him win." No sooner had that thought entered Yang before she fell down the grip.**

Not only seeing herself would negatively affect her, but it also traumatize her sister and prove to Dragunov that she is unworthy. Yang refused to see that outcome. She wants to see herself on top somehow. She needed this gaint spider and the fire Blade to know her name. She was Yang Xiao Long, future badass huntress and the well deserved Driver of Dragunov.

...She did wonder how she got free though.

 **"Roze, get Yang." Ruby shouted, and before Yang realized it, the male Blade in question grabbed Yang and dragged her away from the struggling arachno.**

 **Then Yang finally looked to see what the giant monster bug was struggling against. It was Dragunov, standing on the monster's head grabbing onto the top fangs that he had pried open. "I... am... DRAGUNOV!" With that mighty declaration, the dragonic fire Blade yanked on the fangs planning to rip them off. But the arachno protested by shaking it's body violently before successfully getting Dragunov off it's back. But the Blade landed on his feet, with a growl of annoyance. However, the over sized bug could wait for a moment.**

 **Dragunov moved to Yang and Roze quickly as the arachno's attention was taken by Weiss launching the bitball against it's abdomens. "Can you stand, girlie?" Dragunov asked seriously, lacking the mocking tone he had used so many other times.**

 **["Y-yeah." Yang said, completely caught off guard by this 180 turn.]**

...Dragunov saved her. "Why?" Yang asked. She hadn't done anything yet. She should be greatful or happy, but she was feeling pissed off.

 **"Good, because I have made my decision." With those words, Dragunov flicked his arms in a way that made his Knuckle Claws come out and with an impossible show of dexterity, attached themselves to Yang's arms. Right over Ember Celica. "Now get up and give that oversized bug a taste of my talons!" Dragunov said in a commanding tone, now being linked to Yang.**

Ozpin, Oobleck, Penny, Ren, and Pyrrha see this as a positive sign. While other were questioning if this meant that Dragunov accepted Yang for some reason.

 **That snapped Yang into attention. But instead of doing as told, she responded by punching Dragunov in the chest with his own "talons".**

 **"AURGH! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR!?" Dragunov roared at Yang who looked at the Blade like he just grew a second head... in addition to the stone heads resting on his chest, that is.**

Although she didn't do it herself, some of the stress she accumulated from reading her prologue was released as a relaxed sigh. "I feel more relaxed now. I should have just took his weapons earlier and beat him if I knew that would be more effective."

"And how would you do that?" Weiss questioned the blonde brute.

"Trade punches and eventually let him hit me The time I give a free hit is when I take his weapons." Yang told her plan.

Weiss doubted that would work.

 **"FOR WHAT!? FOR EVERYTHING YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Yang screamed into his face, surprising Dragunov. "YOU THINK I'M JUST GONNA GO: Oh, thank you so much for finally accepting me." The blonde said with melodramatic gratefulness, like a princess thanking a knight for saving her. Before adopting a furious look, complete with her red eyes. "IN YOUR *****NG DREAMS!" After that declaration Yang panted a little, feeling a LOT better after venting her anger on the Blade.**

 **"Yang, language." Ruby said hesitantly, despite being scared of her sister exploding like that.**

The story had already called out Yang for Ruby so the red reaper didn't bother with her sister, but she did say something to the reader. "Language." she said, trying not to sound even a bit disrespectful to Ozpin for saying a foul word even if it's written in the story... with censorship which is fine on some level. If only the censor covered the other word.

Ozpin was bothered by the language or his student's antics. She probably still kept a swear jar at her age given her character. Ozpin pulled out a single card worth 5 lien and gave to Ruby. He had at least one lifetime to make his personal fortune.

Ruby took it for her swear jar.

"Yup, still a kid." Yang said.

 **As for Dragunov... he blinked as the blonde's words. "...Can we talk about this later. Like, after we dealt with that." The fire Blade said with what sounded like remorse as he pointed as the still rampaging arachno, but Yang wouldn't fall for that.**

 **"...Fine." But she had more important things to do right now.**

 **"A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Like Weiss shouting at them for help as the bug decided that she was the biggest threat."**

Weiss just wanted help, but what she wanted to say have Yang go off on her.

 **With that, just as the monstrous bug tried to clamp it's fangs on Weiss, who used her glyphs to escape, Yang moved in with an uppercut into the monster's underbelly, with the talons glowing red.**

 **This earned a screech from the arachno that desperately tried to move and step on the perpatrator that caused it serious pain.**

 **"As I thought, it is weak against fire." Dragunov commented as he kept supplying his power to Yang... With their emotions slowly but surely attuning with each other.**

"Being bonded together with the affinity link must be a somewhat intimate experience." Penny casually said. That did bother the people who have awakened Blades in the story on varying levels. It didn't bother Weiss as much as it should have, it gave Blake a different idea, and the actual meaning went over Ruby's head with her thinking it must simply mean having an attachment to a certain weapon. Oobleck and Yang actually had normal reactions to Peeny's comment.

 **"Barty, let me do something." Adenine called towards her driver.**

 **"Alright, take it away, Adenine." Oobleck replied as he took some distance from the arachno, with her Blade, tossing book-like knuckle claws to her as he did. With that, Adenine gathered wind between her weapons. "Take this, Harness the Wind!" And then she released it, blowing the arachno away slightly.**

"Such a boring name for special move. It so boring that I can hardly think of it as an attack and more like a command. Even "Air Canon" or "Compressed Bullet" sound better than that. A name like that makes me think that this is not even a level one special when it probably is. I bett all the other Blades have batter names for their level one special." To Nora, special moves are meant to be special including the names of said moves.

 **This move gave Roze an idea. "Ruby! Let me follow up." Roze told his Driver, who obliged by throwing the scythe to him. "Now then," Roze said as wind gathered around the red blade, all the while it glowed. "Crescent Bloom!" With that, Roze made a wide horizontal slash, causing rose petals to burst out of the area he cut, before moving away.**

 **In fact, all the Drivers suddenly got an urge to move away from the arachno. Which they obliged.**

 **"BLADE COMBO: CYCLONE!" Roze shouted as a large cyclone appeared, tossing the arachno into the trees with a screech.**

 **"Dahlia..." Weiss managed to say. dumbfounded at the natural disaster appearing like that. "Was that a..."**

 **"A true Blade combo? Yes it was." Dahlia replied, even though she would've liked to be in on it. Sadly this combo can't be followed up with the ice element.**

"So that's a true Blade combo and what we were doing before were pseudo combos..." Ruby started say. "It's SO COOL!" Rbuy and Nora shouted.

"Write it down!" Nora commanded.

Penny and Oobleck were already doing that. So Blade combos can go up to three stages and with the Blades they currently know, they can't get to the third satge with this particular combo.

Didn't Luck say at one point that Roze and Dahlia can do a complete Blade combo between themselves?

 **However, everyone saw a golden opportunity in the form of the arachno struggling to get back up.**

 **"Get it!" Ruby shouted. and with that, all the Drivers and Glynda hit it with all it had.**

"Hit it with another Blade combo!" Nora shouted, wanting to see the arachno be destroyed by the same or similar Blade combo.

"I don't think that's gonna happen. This battle could be wrapped up now." Ren doubted. Even now with the temporary presence of ether it could take time to perform another Blade combo.

 **Ruby struck the insectoid several times in the side between it's right side legs with rose petals coming out of the Blade with every struck. Interestingly enough, the red scythe blade had a pattern across it, which made it look like it was made of rose petals.**

 **The creature would've thrown a tantrum, if Glynda wasn't holding it's legs again.**

 **Weiss used several glyphs as steps to get higher, so she could launch the bitball into their target's back. Causing the carapace to crack.**

 **Blake moved to the other side of the bug and made a pirouette with the scythes, causing deep gashes into the carapace.**

 **Oobleck made pinpoint strikes into the arachno's fangs, breaking them.**

 **Which was followed by Yang introducing the thing's head to Dragunov's talons several times.**

 **"Girl- Yang! Let me finish it." Dragunov called out to his Driver. Despite everything Yang said to Dragunov, despite all the terrible things he did to her, the blonde Driver returned Dragunov's knuckle claws that he calls talons, before getting away from what ever flashy finish he had in mind. With Yang a safe distance away, Dragunov closed in on the fangless bug with his fist raised. "Blazing Talon!" And Dragunov delivered the same Special he used against Glynda once... Except, the explosion of fire was much greater, destroying the front of the monster's body to the point where the front legs no longer had a body to be attacked to. With the monster dead, Dragunov gave it a savage grin before dismissing his talons as he walked to Yang. Raising his fist in front of her once he reached her.**

(OST End)

That seemed like a level one Special.

"It must have been stronger since he had the affinity." Penny reason. "Just how strong can a level one Special get?"

"I suppose we won't know for a while." Oobleck said. He was interested in how strong Blades can be in general for research purposes. "I'm also curious about the biology of the arachno, even though we no longer have a complete specimen. It may not be within my area of expertise, but I am sure I can find some people to assist me."

Now was the time to she how Yang and the other Yang would now react to Dragunov.

 **Yang stared at the fist, it wasn't in the striking position, so what was the point of it. Dragunov gave Yang a look that said. "What're you waiting for?" And then it hit Yang what he wanted. A fist bump, which she gave with a surprising cheer.**

 **"You ended this with a _yang_." Yang punned, earning multiple groans from her teammates who heard that.**

Once again, the one reason to dislike Yang were the bad puns she says, but at least it seems like she not going to fight Dragunov again after working together for once.

 **But Glynda was worried, she had many times wanted to give Yang detention simply for how awful her puns were. And she was very certain that Dragunov would want to kill her right then and there for it.**

 **Except the dragonic Blade laughed at the pun. "Yeah, a very big _yang_." Dragunov punned back, before looking thoughtful. "Except... since this was a group effort, wouldn't that be a _yang bang_?"**

That everyone that wasn't Yang or Penny tilted their bodies in their seats. Penny just had no concept of humor, good or bad.

"Oh No... NO!" The tilted ones said. They feel as though that they meet another version of Yang. They can't even be sure if they should call this Yang version 1.5 or 2.0 with the pun the dragonic Blade went with.

Yang did laugh a bit because she now knew her Blade, despite being the bastard he was when he awakened, had a sense of humor. Of course, she did think the pun he went with wasn't exactly something Ruby should hear. Maybe it is possible to be on good terms with each other.

 **Yang at first gaped at the pun her Blade decided to make, and then she started crackling like a mad hyena. "Unbelievable, that was yangtastic. Pure gold!"**

 **"Like you." Dragunov added and the two kept laughing at their little punfest, holding their stomachs as they did.**

Yang was laughing more openly. Hell, she was starting to think that the puns was the medicine she needed to get over her head pain and she thinks that might be true since the pain is diminishing.

"Worst prologue. Finish it and get to the next chapter." Nora said with the others agreeing.

Yang is gonna let them say what they want. This might me the best trailer to her other than her sister's.

 **Unfortunately, the rest of team RWBY was looking at the scene in horror.**

 **"By the Dust and all holy, there's TWO OF THEM!" Weiss screamed in despair. Summarizing what the rest of them thought.**

Yes could cause a nightmare when the students are sleeping.

 **" Can I kill them, my lady? Please." Nox showed on his scroll with a look of utter despair in his eye. Blake didn't answer, instead she was just glaring at the blonde Driver and her fire Blade. "My lady?"**

 **"I'm thinking." Blake replied, seriously weighing on the pros and cons of killing Yang.**

 **Actually, the puns were so horrible that even a red eyed crow fell from a tree with it's wings around it's head.**

"See Yang. Your puns are so bad that even birds or any other animal can die from hearing it. It must have been a rare species of crow too since I've never heard or seen a red eyed crow." Blake just maybe be leaning towards the idea of killing Yang.

"...Your just exaggerating." Yang denied. "I'm sure that bird had a failed attempt in flying. It may have been injured before."

Ozpin knew it was Qrow that fell. He must have been there as back up in case things didn't go as planned. He may not be needed anymore, but he had the misfortune of hearing bad puns.

 **As for Oobleck and Glynda... It looks like operation "Dragon Slayer" has been cancelled after all. Although whether or not that was a good thing will be debatable. Glynda adjusted her glasses in thought. "Well... Qrow is out of commission now anyway." The plan was for them to lure Dragunov a little deeper into the forest where they had set up a trap for him. And Qrow was their back up in case it failed. Speaking of back up, the professor was a little mad at the drunk not jumping in to help... Then again, she was very certain he would've jumped in if his nieces weren't saved by their Blades. Besides, that might've tipped off Dragunov to what they were planning. "...Students, gather the jars you have filled. we are leaving." Glynda said, snapping three students out of their temptation to murder their teammate.**

"That's uncle Qrow!" The half sisters said in unison.

"Yes." Ozpin answered. He knew why Qrow had that form, but he was going say something else to mask the truth. "Did he ever tell you about his missions?"

"Yeah, although he never said anything about using his semblance nor have we ever seen him use it. Most of them involve him gathering information." Ruby answered.

"I recall him doing those missions almost being completely unnoticed and being in spot that are normally hard to get to. If turning into a bird is his semblance then his stories are true." Then Yang had another thought. "...He better not be using his semblance to be a perv."

Yes Qrow is a hit with the ladies as long as he doesn't get 'unlucky'. It seems to Ozpin that his nieces are convince that his bird form is Qrow's semblance. The knowledge of magic is safe.

 **As the students moved to gather whatever jars survived the battle, Dragunov moved to the abdomens of the dead arachno. " _...I hate doing this, but this forest cannot support your kind._ " Dragunov thought as fire lit in his palms, which he sprayed on the arachno's twin abdomens. " _Dashing in to help the little one, while not caring about her own safety. At least that is what motivates her... Although I might have to put her through a wringer, to fix her sloppy performance... Once I've given a proper apology that is._ " Dragunov thought as he kept sprayingfire on the abdomens that he knew were carrying eggs. But anyways, hopefully what he had in mind was enough for an apology... or at least a good start.**

"Maybe not full forgiveness, but we can start working together." Yang said.

Although it was unfortunate that the arachno could not be studied, Oobleck thought that it may have been better if the monstrous was disposed of... Maybe the best case scenario was that only the eggs got destroyed while the corspe remained present with a bit of additional damage.

For Ruby, being a part of the fight to kill the giant spider might have helped her with her fear...even if only by a certain extent.

* * *

 **That evening at the RWBY dorm, team RWBY was having a serious conversation with Dragunov.**

 **"So let me get this straight." Weiss said with an icy glare. "You beat up Yang, spout sexist non-sense, and kept insulting her body... Just to see if she would cave in?" The dragonic Blade had explained why he acted the way he did towards Yang.**

 **To his credit, Dragunov had a disinterested look. "...Pretty much, yeah." The fire Blade admitted.**

From a reader perspective, that was a lie. The test among the three categories for Yang were enough to prove that.

 **"Surely there was a different way to confirm Yang's integrity." Dahlia said, not liking Dragunov's extreme approach. Not to mention how he interpreted Yang being at the time of his awakening. Needless to say, the blonde in question took offense to it.**

 **"Actions speak louder than words." Dragunov replied easily before giving Yang an apologetic look. "And with that, Yang, My sincerest apologies for misjudging you so harshly."**

 **Everyone's jaw hit the floor at the dragon going so far as bowing his head.**

"Mmmm... I guess I'll take that." The apology was good enough to Yang.

Most people wouldn't go as far as to bow down to the person they offended while apologizing unless they were following old Mistral tradition. The formal version would be to kneel and bow.

 **"And consider this my token of apology." Dragunov then said as he brought out a rather large pouch with him from... where ever he had disappeared to for a time.**

"That sounds suspicious." Weiss narrowed her eyes. The fire Blade never haad that pouch before.

 **Yang accepted the pouch with a skeptical look, before opening it. "...Really... clear rocks." The blonde asked as she brought one of the said rocks out of the pouch and looked at it with a critical eye. "If you think this is enough to-Hey!" Yang exclaimed as Weiss had suddenly taken the rock off the blondes hand.**

Yang did not consider rocks as a token of apology, but those rocks must have been something is Weiss snatched it out of her hands for a close look.

"Is that..." Weiss scrutinized. She along with Ren, Pyrrha, Penny, Oobleck, and Ozpin were coming to the conclusion on what those stones were. Question is, how did Dragunov obtain those stones?

 **"Weiss, what's wrong?" Ruby asked, worrying about Weiss' weird behavior.**

 **"Where did you steal these!?" Weiss demanded from Dragunov with an accusing look.**

Stolen? If those were than Yang can't accept... whatever those rocks are.

 **"Steal?" Blake repeated with a questioning look. "Weiss what're you talking about?"**

 **"Steal." Dragunov said with an offended look. "I'm not a thief, you little priss."**

Weiss took offense to that.

 **Before Weiss could retort to that, Dahlia had put a hand over her Driver's shoulder. "Weiss, what is it? What are those stones?"**

 **Weiss looked at Dahlia with a shocked look, before looking at a clueless Yang. "Yang... don't you know what these are?" The heiress asked, practically shoving the pouch with one of the stones into Yang's face.**

 **"Uhh... No? Should I?" Yang asked, thinking Weiss had lost it.**

Weiss facepalmed at Yang's lack of intelligence about those 'rocks'.

 **"You oaf! These are uncut diamonds!" Weiss screeched, dropping a very big bomb on everyone.**

"WHAT!? DIAMONDS!?" Screeched everyone who didn't know that those rocks were diamonds.

 **"WHAT!? DIAMONDS!?" the three huntresses in training screamed in unison. Gems in general run a very high price in Remnant's jewel market. A pouch full of diamonds is something only wealthy people like Weiss had even a shred of hope of obtaining... So how did Dragunov get his hands on any?**

"But how?" Jaune asked from his surprise.

Yang REALLY hopes she takes it... but it maybe have been stolen from someone or some place. She didn't know who or where from. She should do what's right, but she was fiending for those diamonds.

 **[Dragunov smirked at the looks of shocked disbelief. "I have my ways." The Blade said smugly, guessing what they were wondering.]**

 **[Unfortunately, this only prompted the girls to interrogate him on where he got these precious stones from. The accusations ranging from robbing a bank, to beating up an old woman and raiding her jewelry box.]**

Even if those were petty accusations, they could still be valid. Although, those were unlikely.

* * *

 **In Alrest, Rex and the gang had found a strange blue diamond from a tirkin, of all things. The gem themed Blade Agate identified it as some kind of diamond, but they had brought it to an appraiser in Argentum just to make sure.**

No one knew what a tirkin was, but the gem themed Blade certainly looked interesting.

 **The nopon appraiser had instantly dashed to a catalogue of some kind, turning the pages with her wings frantically as she kept glancing at the shiny blue diamond in her stubby hands. Then she found the page."Misimisi not believe it! Friend has brought the legendary Water Dragunite." the nopon named Misimisi shouted.**

 **"Water Dragunite?" Nia questioned, never having heard of something like that. "Never heard of it." Then again, the Gormotti girl wasn't exactly an expert in jewelry.**

 **"Dragunite?" Brighid muttered in thought.**

"Couldn't that stone have a better- Wait."Jaune cut himself off.

"Jaune."Pyrrha wondered why Jaune cut himself off.

"I'm probably overthinking it, but the name of the stone could be related to Dragunov." The knight said.

"It could just be a coincidence that it shares part of its name." Weiss stated, still trying to figure out how Dragunov obtained uncut diamonds.

 **"Friend not know!? The Water Dragunite is one of the eight jewels created by a powerful Blade." Misimisi explained frantically, bouncing in place frantically as she did.**

 **That got everyone's attention, especially Agate's. "A Blade that can make gemstones!? How is that possible?" The gem themed Blade asked as she was an expert on mineralogy, but she never thought there would be someone capable of creating gems.**

"A Blade that can make gems! You basically have a 'get rich quick method'. Lets start making money." Nora said with the money sign for lien in her eyes.

The same was happening with Yang. She hoped that this is true, that Dragunov was said Blade. She wanted confirmation so she knew the diamonds weren't stolen, but created.

Weiss didn't want to believe it. How can someone just create precious gems? "No, they must be stolen."

 **"That not known." Misimisi said as he calmed down somewhat. "But individually each gem is very pricey-pricey. This one worth... two million gold."**

 **"EEHHH!?" The gang shouted in unison, except Mòrag who's eyes just widen considerably at the price. Two million gold for one blue gem, although the gem in question was the size of a human's fist.**

Aside from the nopon speech pattern being a bit odd to listen to... "TWO MILLION GOLD!? FOR THAT ONE GEM!?" The students plus Oobleck said. Size and rarity are two factors for the pricing, but what about its composition and purity?

 **With that, Tora dashed to retrieve the priceless gem. "Tora could buy all the juicy samods Tora could eat." The nopon inventor said, drooling at the idea.**

 **"Masterpon would turn into balloon which could pop from the tiniest pinpricks if he did that." Poppi shot the idea down as she grabbed the stone.**

 **"Forget food! We could buy ourselves our very own mansion with that kind of money!" Nia shouted as she too grabbed the gem with an uncharacteristically greedy look.**

 **Only for the gem to be snatched by Rex. "But wouldn't it be better spent on equipment?" Rex pointed out. Although if he had a say in it, Rex would spend a portion on whatever they needed and send the rest to Fonsett village.**

It seemed that Rex's opinion was the better way to use the money they could potentially get, but the students did disagree about sending most of money back to suspected home of Rex. Just and a portion back, buy what you need, and maintain the remaining funds for future use when needed.

If Yang had the money, she would use it to upgrade Bumblebee, travel expense for a wild adventure and searching for a person of interest, and maybe a few things for Ruby.

 **As Nia hissed at Rex for his trick, the gem once again switched owners. "Rex, don't be a spoilsport." Mythra complained, having her own ideas about the gem.**

 **As the group fell into chaos over what they would do with that kind of money, Mòrag glanced at Brighid who had opened her dairy. And then she saw a Blade frowning at something. "Something on your mind Brighid?" The special inquisitor asked her Blade.**

 **Brighid was snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh. Nothing lady Mòrag... Or actually... the Water Dragunite... It was created by Dragunov." Brighid admitted hesitantly.**

 **Mòrag's eyes widened at the information. "He did?"**

"He did!?" Said Weiss and the inner gold digger or Yang and Nora. That's when it started to truly set the fact that Dragunov created the diamonds. All it took was a personal recording that was most likely a previous life time of a Blade.

"...Okay... so they weren't stolen." Weiss lamented. She knew this can spark a person's greed and potentially cause problems.

Yang and Nora pictured themselves sitting on top mountains of gold, laughing like the rich girls they wish they could be if they had the gems made by Dragunov.

 **"Yes, I'm looking at an entry where he was bragging about finally succeeding in creating the blue diamond." Brighid said as she tapped her diary before turning a page. "It seemed like he had... trouble making it the exact shade of blue he wanted.**

Weiss is still dumbfounded. "He can make specific gems with effort and he could appraise them himself since he know the value of the gems he can create."

 **"...First he's a Blade that has immense power, now he can create gems." Mòrag said in disbelief. "It sounds like whoever he accepted became rich because of him."**

 **Brighid smiled at that assumption. "I don't know about rich, but Thauron did become popular with the ladies." Though the "ladies" in question were gold diggers... Or maybe diamond miners would be the more appropriate term in this case.**

"Now we know his previous Driver's name." Oobleck said.

"I actually feel bad for this Thauron guy. Only being popular with the ladies because Dragunov is a good source of money." Then something clicked in Jaune's mind. "What. Why didn't Dragunov become popular with the ladies?"

"Take a look at Drag and guess." Yang said, now going to refer to Dragunov as "Drag".

 **"I don't doubt it." Mòrag said with a sigh, imaginine a pack of ravenous women who wanted a piece of the riches that were within the poor man's grasp. "So how did he make it?" Mòrag decided to ask, getting a little curious.**

 **"He didn't say." Brighid replied, feeling just as disappointed at it as Mòrag did right now."**

"Come on! This is important information!" Yang shouted. She could think of a few possibilities on how Dragunov creates the gems, two of which she hoped wasn't the case, otherwise she hoped that Dragunov thoroughly cleaned them. One, Dragunov just creates them in his hand. Two, the gems grow and fall off the stone parts of his body. Three, he literally coughs them up. Four... it comes out of him when he's concentrating in the bathroom.

 **The musing were cut off as the Water Dragunite was brought to Mòrag by Azurda. "Mòrag, could you look after this? I don't feel confident about any of those kids holding on to it without fighting over it." The tiny titan asked as he was clearly struggling with the large gem.**

 **Mòrag looked at the "kids" in question to witness a dog pile that had somehow been formed by Nia, Tora, Poppi, Rex, and... Pyra? With poor Tora somehow ending at the bottom flailing his stubby limbs and wings frantically. All the while Dromarch shook his head at their antics, while Pyra was trying to get out of the predicament she ended in because of Mythra. All the while the red haired Aegis gave Mòrag and Brighid an apologetic look with a hint of embarrassment. "...That seems to be for the best." Mòrag conceded as she accepted the gem, before turning to Brighid. "Brighid, would you like to hold onto this?"**

It was childish display, but funny to a few.

"Hopefully Tora doesn't become a pancake." Jaune said.

"Pancake!?" Nora perk up. The nopon was looking a bit more edible.

"Down, Nora." Ren commanded as if he trained Nora like a pet in this specific or similar situation.

 **"Me?" Brighid asked, opening her normally closed purple eyes briefly. "But... why?"**

Every one had to admit that Brighid looked beautiful with her eyes opened even if it seemed a bit odd from the brief moments they saw her. There were mixed personal preferences regarding Brighid with her eyes open and her eyes closed.

Ruby felt like she could make a comparison with a kids show regarding Brighid's eyes and even the Water Dragunite. She had the same thought about professor Port.

 **"It was created by a Blade you once called a friend, I believe you should hold onto it." Mòrag replied, smiling at her Blade and long time partner.**

 **"...Very well. Thank you lady Mòrag." Brighid said, accepting the large gem, much to the combined groans of Nia and Tora... Even though calling Dragunov a friend seemed like a stretch, if her diary is to be believed. Regardless... Brighid read from her diary that each of the Dragunites was named after the eight elements. Each of them in the color of their respective element. Which made Brighid wonder where the other seven were briefly.**

"Wait a minute." Weiss said as she focused on the element detail and then try to trace them back to the diamonds Yang got. "Is it possible... No. it can't be."

"What is it Weiss?" Yang asked.

Those are just uncut diamonds. I was thought for a moment that those might diamonds might have been one of those elemental Dragunites." Weiss explained. Although her intial assumption is possible with very low odds. "We've only seen for of the eight elements: fire, wind, ice, and dark. The respective colors being red, green, cyan, and purple. I'm not convinced that those diamonds could be related to an element we haven't seen."

"Then I'd be making more money." Than Yang had a thought. "What if those Dragunites ended up in our world?" Yang focused her attention on Ozpin. "Professor Ozpin, can you give us a mission to search for those gems. Our reward will be those gems."

"No." Ozpin replied. "If we do somehow find these gems, they belong to the people of Alrest. Consider it their sacred treasures."

"Damn. At least I can get normal gems." Yang said.

"Every one, look at the observation deck." Penny sense something and gained everyone's attention.

A blue portal appeared on the deck that gave them a view of all of Remnant. What came of it were familiar and unfamiliar faces.

The reading group and the new arrivals looked at each other, blinked and had their own reactions to what was happening.

"...We have much to discuss." Ozpin said. This was going to take time.

* * *

 **There were a few references in here. The part about gem creation and gold diggers did get me to play the song Gold Digger for my personal amusement.**

 **Now, it's been a while, but I really want to pick up and try to finish that lost chapter for Castlevania. It is being repurposed. More news to come in that update.**

 **I know P5R came out which makes me want to update my new story which is a crossover between XC2 and P3, but Castlevania is way overdue by now. There is a poll associated with the new story.**

 **RE3 Remake comes out shortly so I may do something for that. Most likely a one-shot.**


End file.
